Opinion

Are your tax dollars being spent wisely?

Thursday, July 25, 2002

Congress is poised to spend a little more of your money. Well actually it's about $11 billion of your money but, in the ways of Washington, that's just petty cash. I think my point however is that $11 billion should not be viewed as petty cash. It should be viewed as money from hard-working taxpayers and it should only be spent when absolutely necessary. That, I believe, is how you should act when you are the custodian of someone else's money.

Now that Congress has approved Homeland Security funds, the attention will turn to spending bills that make up about a third of the multi-trillion dollar federal budget. Big ticket expenditures like Social Security, Medicare and Defense are not included in the current discussions. But that still leaves about $750 billion in spending bills that must be resolved. It will take until election day to get both sides to agree.

Here's just one example but it's a big one. The Democrats want about $700 million more for Amtrak funding than the President has proposed. In other words they want about twice as much funding for a transportation plan that has consistently lost money. Now I understand that those people on the northeast corridor of this nation rely on Amtrak. And to a minor extent, some in Missouri do as well. But you have to question whether continued federal funding is the answer. And remember, it's your dollars they're spending.

But let's also be honest and not hypocritical. Some of this new spending measure will also move money to farmers who have been injured by drought conditions. You see, we have less argument with this aspect of the bill than others. And, to me at least, we're wrong in that position.

There will always be those who truly believe the federal government should spend whatever amount necessary to provide the needs of the American public. But there are those who understand that the American public must first do their part and be responsible. When those options fall short, then and only then should the federal government come into play.

Watch Congress in the weeks and months ahead. After all, they're spending your money that you earned with the sweat of your labor. And in many cases, they're giving it to someone who did not fulfill that promise.

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