Starving the Government

Starving the Government



Well, the President’s budget is on the hill. As expected, the roof has blown off. Most of the noise is from the Democrats. A few Republicans are fussing, too.



Look, for the past four years the opposition has been nagging at the Bush Administration to stop the spending. The Congress has been spending money like a “drunken sailor”. They have moaned, and groaned, about the huge surplus the Clinton Administration handed down to Bush. And now, they contend, it is gone.



A couple of things: First, there was never a surplus! It was a paper figure only. It never existed in reality. The Bush Administration could not spend what it did not have.



Second, be careful what you ask for…you might get it. They asked that spending be stopped, and now, the President has offered to stop it with his new budget.



The howls of pain and dismay, the weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, from the Democrat side of the aisle is a sight to behold.



So, how, exactly, would they take care of the deficit? By raising taxes. Trust me, they’re Democrats… they raise taxes. Even now, they are planning ways to take back the tax breaks the President gave us in his first term. And then, they plan to raise our taxes. They offer the same solution to “fix” social security… raise taxes.



Look, my state, North Carolina, is looking at major tax increases this year. We keep electing Democrat governors and they keep raising taxes. It is what they do. Even in my county, run by Democrats, the taxes have been raised again this year. The Republican counties, all around us, are growing by leaps and bounds and we are dead in the water. North Carolina is in deep financial trouble. But nobody in Raleigh will even talk about cutting spending.



You know, I’ll bet, at your house, when you find your money is not stretching as far as it once did, you buy less. You cut back on the spending. It is common sense. Not so in Raleigh, and not so in Washington…until now.



The President’s new budget will slow down spending, by cutting back on the rate of increase in the budgets of many departments. Nine of the President’s fifteen Cabinet departments will receive less money. Some government programs will be cut out entirely, because they have not worked, or, are not cost efficient.



The old expression: “When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging” is one they have not learned in Washington! Well, now is a good time to begin.



Republicans have long believed in “starving government” to reduce it’s size. This is as good a time as any to put the Federal Government on a major diet!



Your Obedient Servant,



“Longstreet”