Yep, from 15 below zero a week and a half ago to 65 degrees last Sat to 11-12" of snow yesterday into today, with strong winds to boot. It's been quite a roller coaster.
The weather guys got it right and wrong. It was supposed to rain until mid-afternoon yesterday, but shortly into my 7:15 AM run, it began snowing. I knew we'd get a bit more than was forecast (4-8").
I shoveled out our driveway four times, opting for 2-4" at a time because the white stuff was wet and heavy. I also helped Michael earn some money, shoveling out a neighbor's drive. He did the yeoman's share of the work. I think I picked up the yeoman's share of the aches. Ah, to be young again......
Federal gov't revenue has increased steadily since 2009. In fact, over that span, the feds took in more than a trillion (That's t-t-t-trillion!) dollars more in '15 than it did six years later. Federal expenditures, over that same time frame, has remained about the same or increased slightly from year to year. That's after a significant boost, about half a trillion bucks, in 2009. The total debt is nearing $20,000,000,000,000. I'm not sure I can count all the zeroes. I know I can't use my fingers alone. Now, hold on to your hats. The debt increases manifold if we include unfunded liabilities--and we have to do that, don't we? Some, even former gov't lackeys, claim the real national debt is more than three times the number given by the deceitful politicians and bureaucrats, somewhere near $65 trillion. Yet others, not tied to the gov't past or present, insist the debt is well over $200,000,000,000,000. How can that ever be paid? And the fools in DC keep spending, spending, spending.
Of course, the meme that has spread ubiquitously is that "the rich don't pay their fair share." No doubt, some don't. Can they be blamed? How many of us don't take the deductions, exemptions, and credits coming to us on our taxes? Of course we take them. Who wouldn't?
The obvious problem isn't the revenue side of the equation, but the spending side. DC folks spend far too much money, other people's money and recklessly. State legislators, local officials, school administrators, etc. all do, too. After all, it's not their money and, as Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman has often written, "It's easy to spend other people's money."
Well, it goes deeper than that. I've read that if DC confiscates all the wealth in the US, every last dime, from the demonized "wealthy" to the rest of us, there still won't be enough to cover just the deficit spending of the first years of the Obama Administration. Even if that's off by a bit, it's very sobering, isn't it? Just think about that for a while.
Of course, much of this has resulted from a culture change. What's happened? If someone's kid gets sick, but the parent didn't have the foresight or the will to purchase health insurance for the family (I know, I know, "But it's too expensive." There are programs out there that even I know about that could and would have provided coverage for those unable to afford much if any. And if the truly needy, not those who would prefer an I-phone to health insurance, require assistance, let's give it to them), let's let others pick up the tab through higher medical and insurance rates or, worse, ObamaCare. If your kid wants to take a foreign language in school or wants yet more computers there, but the school district says "no" because of the expense, let's demand that gov't do something, that is, increase taxes on your neighbors to pay for what you and your kid want. Where else to visit? How about paying for college or housing or.....? Let's cry for gov't to "Do something!" And it will. It will raise taxes so our neighbors pay for, not what they want, but for what we want.
And we don't demonize those who continually seek to raise taxes, to make others (certainly never us!) pay more. No No No. We foist shame on those who call for fiscal responsibility in gov't, who demand reforms that might lead to efficiencies and accountability.
Here's an idea. Instead of hiding behind politicians, why don't those of us who seek more money from our neighbors (in the form of higher taxes) instead just go knocking on neighborhood doors and ask for it? I wonder how that would work out.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
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