Government Spending Bigger Issue than Jobs

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By Heather Stone, US Daily Review Contributor

The American Jobs Act: Major tax cuts for small businesses, veteran employment incentives, 280k teachers jobs saved, and government funded building jobs created by “modernizing” America projects.  Sounds good doesn’t it?  I agree.  However, I ask you, where is the money for this $447 billion jobs plan going to come from?  This is especially important to consider when we are already almost $15 trillion in debt.  Washington D.C. is not magic land.  They don’t have the money, and they won’t be winning it in a game of poker.  I am no financial wizard, but government budgeting and balancing has to go by the same basic mathematical principles as budgeting in every household.  With my own finances, I pay my bills every month, trying to pay down my debt, leaving enough money in my account for groceries and gas so that I won’t have to charge it.  Doing this diligently over the past couple of years, my debt has decreased and it won’t be long before I have none at all.

The government seems to be doing the opposite.  One should not spend beyond their means, in other words, if you don’t have it, you shouldn’t try to spend it.  The government is too large, and too fat. Salaries of elected officials are astounding given our circumstances. The Senate leadership makes almost $200k per year; the Speaker of the House makes $220k per year; the President makes $400k per year with a $50k expense allowance.  I understand the job is stressful and they’re putting their lives at risk, but that’s a lot of money coming out of our empty pockets.

Here is a figure that will blow your mind: according to Census.gov, the Federal Government civilian employment, to include everyone except the President, payroll for March 2009 was $15,105,511,892.  That’s only for one month of paying the salaries of government employees, and it’s in the billions.  No wonder the national debt increases by $3 million per minute.

We need to cut all spending that is not critical, freeze taxes, cut some government funded departments, stop writing and passing 1,000+ page bills, and stop trying to control the economy.  All the spending from stimulus packages to bailouts, to printing more money and raising the debt ceiling – none of this has helped our economy.  I think we need to let it be, and things will smooth out naturally in time. More intervention has clearly not helped.

In addition, Obama’s health care plan has scared many employers into a hiring freeze because they’re not sure they’ll be able to afford the mandatory health care for their employers, so they don’t want to hire any more.  The idea of every person in America having health insurance is nice, but it’s unrealistic.  Health care is not a guarantee.  People who work for a living should get it, by paying for it.  It should not be free. Furthermore, when there is a welfare system in place, some people will get lazy, take advantage and not work.  Money isn’t free, you have to work for it – this is why taking care of your own health (for example, not smoking or allowing yourself to become obese) and maintaining family values should be important to us.  This matters, because one day when you old and sick, your family will help take care of you where government simply cannot.

We need to get back to basics.  We simply cannot afford another large, expensive bill.  The President is looking for a win with his American Jobs Act, as election season nears, but recent history alone demonstrates that this isn’t going to work.

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Heather Stone and her two-year-old daughter live in northern Italy, where her husband, who is active duty Air Force, is stationed. Heather currently works as an auto mechanic, and served in the United States Air Force from 2001 to 2007. After leaving the service, she worked for Boeing as a supply handler until her husband proposed marriage and they received orders that moved them to Italy.

Heather has an AA in Business Administration and plans to earn her BS in Environmental Science. Heather’s hobbies and interests for me consist of running when she gets the chance, writing, politics, and enjoying her family.

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