Nothing gives me more heartburn than doing my taxes. It’s the one time every year that I feel as though the federal and state governments are ganging up on me and my wife.
It’s like dealing with the mafia. No matter how much we have already given them, they want more. Not once have I ever heard anyone associated with government look me in the eye, thank me, and tell me, “That’s enough.” They always have their hand out.
A friend who is “in the know” spent a little time in Our Nation’s Capital recently and reported that no one in Congress can agree on anything except for one thing: they can all agree on spending more money.
That makes me sad. I know it’s expensive to run the federal government, or the state government. But we have become a culture that, in its heart, believes that money will make us happy. And the more money we spend, the happier we’ll be.
If that were true, we’d all be ecstatic. I’d be doing cartwheels around the room right now. The U.S. spends more than any nation on the planet, yet it’s not even in the top 10 for the happiest countries.
Congress and the administration spent something like $4.4 trillion last year. Of that, they borrowed $1 trillion. They plan to borrow another $1 trillion this year, and next year — and every year after that.
Some of you who are little older can remember in the early 1980s, when the entire federal budget was $1 trillion. And we thought that was a lot. Now we borrow that much just for kicks.
As I sit here staring at my tax forms, I have a deep feeling that something is wrong. I feel like the guy in Jurassic Park who feels the ground start to shake as the T-Rex gets loose.
I wonder at the profligate spending. I feel as though it is our Achilles heel, and ultimately it will do us in as
a nation.
The federal government throws more money away than I’ll ever see in my life. I just read a book about the military. The Department if Defense is paying $130 million for a single jet fighter – and that doesn’t include the research and development costs that went into it. The total cost: $1.5 trillion. It’s time to declare peace!
Add in all of the other programs and pet projects that come squirting out of Congress and we’ve got a big whopping problem.
And all we hear from the candidates is how much more money they will spend. Free health care! Free college! Free stuff for everyone! Yahoo!
The total national debt is about $22 trillion. Holy smokers! The way these folks talk, that’ll just be the starting point. We’ll just keep spending until the printing press breaks down.
In our household, my wife and I figure out how much money is coming in. Then we write a budget that goes
as follows: Spend a little, and put the rest away for a rainy day.
Maybe that’d be a good plan for Congress.
Then I won’t feel so bad on tax day.
Carl Sampson is a freelance writer and editor. He lives in Stayton.
