Required reading, dears...

[Tiz]

This is why sending more of your money to DC doesn't make SENSE.

http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=774a6cca-18fa-4619-987b-a15eb44e7f18

Read it and get mad enough to change it.

[mare]

These sort of things always anger me.

Personally, I could benefit from the heavily subsidized small airports. It's cheaper for me to hop on a plane to Denver than it is to drive my manual transmission, 4-cylinder car. That's nuts. The planes can hold 20 to 35 depending on what we get that day, and there might be 4-6 people on it, not counting staff.

I argued against taking the subsidy last year and was told that some people (present at the meeting) wouldn't move here if that service wasn't available. My response? "Then don't. Don't move to a remote area and demand conveniences at the expense of taxpayers across the country!" There was uncomfortable shifting in seats, and after a few moments a developer (not local) started his "it brings money in" speil.

Then let the service pay for itself!

[JackieB]

I stopped a couple of pages in. I'm on board, Tiz.

In a way, I'm almost pleased that we're digging ourselves into an even deeper hole right now. Why? Because I think that like a hopelessly addicted person, the US has to hit rock bottom before it will address its problems. The political costs of doing the right thing are too great, so it's easier to just kick the problem down the road. Simple economic forces are going to have to bring this all to a head.

Fortunately, I have great faith in Americans - once we become sufficiently disturbed by a problem. Our own economic "Pearl Harbor" isn't here yet, but it will occur. I hope this analogy isn't disrespectful to WWII vets. I just mean that we need something that can no longer be rationalized or ignored and we aren't there quite yet.

The extension of the tax cuts along with a cut in payroll taxes (both good things) combined with an increase in spending will hasten our Waterloo (to use another military analogy). It probably has to happen.

My liberal friends and family members would be suprised, perhaps even shocked, but I'm completely in support of these tax cuts. I don't like or dislike millionaires anymore than any other income group, but the government has no more right to their money than anyone else's. And the estate tax. Everything in those estates was taxed when it was orginally purchased. There shouldn't be an estate tax at all, much less an exemption.

Now I know that it costs a lot to have the wonderful services we enjoy in the US. And compared to most countries in the world, they are incredible. It's relatively safe to live here, we respect the rule of law, our water and air are pretty clean, and so on. I'm willing to pay for all of that, and I'm sure that others are as well. But we've gone way beyond all of these basic services and are accepting massive, bloated government organizations.

I saw on the news yesterday that the US Postal Service has 500,000 employees and is the second largest employer (I think behind Wal-Mart). Absurd. It should be 1/10th that size. Most of us could get mail once or twice a week anymore.

Some of you are probably saying - "But Jackie, what about your position on healthcare?" Please keep in mind that a lot of my support for health reform comes from the fact that we already spend all of that money and haven't yet come up with a better plan for getting control of it. It Obamacare is repealed, I won't be wringing my hands. Whoever repeals it can then help us find a better solution.

[Tiz]

"I saw on the news yesterday that the US Postal Service has 500,000 employees and is the second largest employer (I think behind Wal-Mart). Absurd."

Speaking of the post office, my father in law worked there. He qualified for full retirement benefits after 30 years of employment. He passed away 2 years ago, just shy of enjoying 30 years of comfortable, generous retirement payments.

I'll bet everyone of those asinine expenditures funnels money to some connected person, or family member of the person doing the appropriating. We've simply been played for fools for decades, and to be honest, that's what voters have been. Uninformed, anyway. Hopefully, thanks to Fox News and the internet, we can clean house and turn around before the rock bottom.

I'm to the point that just voting our current criminals out isn't enough. They really should be prosecuted some way.

[WashingtonBay]

Note number 64.

[natisha]

I can't get the link to work but I'll participate anyway, not really knowing what is going on as usual. I'll just comment on things said here.

Tax cuts- the 2% payroll tax cut goes into the pockets of those who earned it.

How can it be said that the rich are getting a tax cut when it is staying the same? If they are already at a certain level & the economy took a dive, how will anything change? All this will do if give someone a chance to say "See, it did or didn't work," depending on which side of the fence you're on.

Subsidies - if a project is a potential money maker (trains, planes) a private investor/s would jump at the chance to do it. The only ones making a profit are the contactors building stuff, then they move on & we are left pumping money into the project forever.

That's all I've got until I can see what you guys are talking about, then I still probably won't have much:p

[WashingtonBay]

It's a PDF document... you might have to install Adobe Acrobat to read it.

[natisha]

It's a PDF document... you might have to install Adobe Acrobat to read it.Oh, later then. I've got hungry ponies & wheelbarrows. Thanks

[Ranger44]

I find it interesting that some of the projects were as low as $5,000 while others had the word billion after a number. The worst ones had the word duplicate in the title. Having worked for state government for 30+ years I know that while some of these things done are wasteful to one person they are very important to another and how the spending is presented looks like waste or necessity. Either way much of that list is nothing but ridiculous.