Thursday, January 28th, 2010
The President’s proposed spending freeze
In his state of the Union speech last night, President Obama proposed a spending freeze as a solution to the rising national debt. He said that this would affect discretionary government programs, but that Medicaid, Medicare and spending related to national security would not be affected. He said that this freeze would go into effect in 2011 when the economy would be stronger.
In reading this segment of the President’s State of the Union speech, I generally agree with the proposal. I wrote an article on December 10, 2009 criticizing H. J. Res.45 which authorized the increase of the national debt. It is refreshing to hear the President in his State of the Union speech advocate a curtailment of government spending and say that we need to examine our money management and eliminate the spending which is not appropriate. You’d think he read my article! I know he didn’t; so I won’t flatter myself. This idea goes back much further than my December 10 article.
Although I generally agree with the sentiment, I wonder about its implementation. Good financial management is the sort of thing that households across the nation are practicing, but here, we are talking about a household that is around three hundred million strong. Everyone is clamoring for their share of the pie. Another concern I have is the health care being considered in Congress. This bill carries with it a large price tag, and if it passes, I am concerned that the national debt may increase despite the spending freeze. I hope that the President can implement the spending freeze equitably and that the freeze will recognize our most important priorities. At the same time, I hope that it will at least stop the growth of the national debt. These are some of the challenges the President will face.
If this spending freeze is implemented, bills on our expenditures will come before the Congress. This is where Politivote fits into the situation. We will obtain the data on these bills and anyone can register for free and vote for or against these bills. We will then send the aggregate of these votes to legislators. Now is the time to be involved to make sure that the government recognizes your priorities.
Tags: Advocate, Congress, Curtailment, Expenditures, Financial Management, Government Programs, Government Spending, Household, Households, Hundred Million, Medicaid, Medicare, Money Management, National Debt, National Security, Price Tag, Priorities, Segment, Sentiment, spending freeze, state of the union, Union Speech
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Thursday, December 10th, 2009
Recently, H.J.RES.45 was passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. This resolution increased the limit on the public debt. When I read this piece of legislation, I grow concerned. I don’t know a single entity responsible for money that would increase your credit limit if you can’t pay off your current debts. To me, H.J.RES.45 is the equivalent of having debt on one credit card that I am not able to pay and applying for another credit card that I can’t pay. It makes absolutely no sense.
Recently, we have had huge government investments. I wonder if the tax payer is getting a return on these investments. We bailed out major industries that were in trouble. We had the economic stimulus package. I question the return we are getting on the investments.
Controlling the national debt needs to be a serious discussion for the American people. Congress and the American people need to take a look at our expenditures and seriously ask if these are merited. If there are expenses that are unnecessary, we need to get rid of them. I would not even call this concept finance 101, I would call it remedial finance, or the prerequisite to what one needs to know to take Finance 101. This is the sort of thing households do when they experience debt if they want to recover. When I run into financial trouble, this is the sort of thing I do. There are many competing interests that want government money for this or that. However, if we are going to get out of debt, we need to assign priorities to projects or ideas that require investing tax-payer’s dollars. Some investments are worthwhile and others can and should be discarded. Congress and the American people should address this issue.
Tags: Bad Money, Congress, Credit Card, Debts, Economic Stimulus Package, Expenditures, Finance, Financial Trouble, Government Investments, Government Money, House Of Representatives, Households, Legislation, Money Management, National Debt, Prerequisite, Priorities, Public Debt, Senate, Tax Payer
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