Friday, February 11, 2011

Our crisis in government spending

Obama's great new ideas: $5 billion so everyone can have high-speed WIRELESS internet; and $10 billion so public service agencies can have high-speed WIRELESS internet (if the first $5 billion includes 98 percent of the country, why do we need another $10 billion?).

I live in a rural area and I have high-speed internet, with speeds up to 12 Mbps available (that's 8 T-1 lines) but it's on a wire. Why do I need, or want, high-speed WIRELESS? Oh, wait! I have a $25 home router that provides this for my laptop.)

Biden: $53 billion on high-speed rail, when the government can't even make Amtrack profitable. High-speed rail won't work in the United States for three reasons: 1) We don't really want it; 2) The distances involved are better served by airlines; and 3) We don't have the money.

They're not even spending my tax dollars anymore. They'll have to borrow this from the Chinese, and then my grandchildren and their children will have to pay it back. If they're lucky enough to get the chance.

And I don't think the GOP is much better: Slapping each other on the back for coming up with $100 billion in budget cuts when the deficit is 15 TIMES more than that. The deficit is $1,500 billion. So they've come up with a way to cut 6.6 percent. I'm singing in the rain, dudes...

There is so much waste in government (like 47 different job training programs that cost $19 billion a year), that politicians and others who claim in the weeks ahead that a $4 trillion annual federal budget can't be cut by hundreds of billions of dollars simply aren't telling the truth.

If the GOP is really serious about cutting spending, why are they ignoring more than $5 billion every year spent on ethanol subsidies that neither help the environment nor save energy; $6.2 billion in tax credits for oil and gas companies flush in record profits; and $3.5 billion for an extra engine for the F-35 fighter jet that the Pentagon doesn't want?

We need to stop the insanity now!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

$5 billion for wireless internet is a great idea.

Steve said...

Great idea, sure. Actually, more of a nice idea...But where's the money going to come from?

Anonymous said...

The same place it all comes from, but at least you get something for it this way. It's great seed money and puts people to work, which we need.