Inappropriate Price Tag
Printed February 4, 2004
I believe in not hiding any secrets; what's the point? It can only come back and explode in your face, and it's even worse when you attempt cover it up. I am so sick of this "oh don't worry about it; we'll take care of it" mentality that many politicians utilize. This may be why we elect them, so they can deal with the hard business, but it doesn't need to be a dirty business as what we've seen in Washington D.C. I wonder how much the U.S. would be if it were were run on honesty and not this sickly, thick sugarcoating of reality we're living in. Would it actually be an united nation? If I ever ran for an important office, I would be sure to let everyone know what their money is really going towards whether it would hurt me or not; and if I ever spend $1 trillion dollars, pinch me. I've never even imagined there being that much money, and still don't to this day.
President George W. Bush apparently thinks that the U.S. is a bottomless pit of wealth and has one again shoved this country back in the hole. The question is, "Who's going to make him pay?" In some backwards way, it seems as if the richest nation is also the poorest, by means of governmental economics. With the release of the numbers on the country's financial trouble, it would put anyone, regardless of political loyalty, to shame. So where did the half of a trillion dollars go? There is no possible way that we could have spent nearly that much on the battles over in the Middle East alone, so what's the deal? It's not like airport security is really that much better since 9/11. A little over a week ago, a woman passed through security with a stun gun and a knife in her purse at LaGuardia Airport. Yes, she realized her honest mistake and gave the items up without a struggle; still, you really never know.
So who is going to pay for this disgusting, glaring red deficit? Everyone has heard the stories with credit card and mortgage debt and knows that it can take decades to pay them off everything, so what makes the United State so different? The only difference, I don't know anyone stupid enough to spend anything near $1 trillion in their lifetime, forget in 3 years. Mr. President probably thought, "Hey, I can do what I want, since I'm not the one who has to pay it off!" So what did he do? He proposed some lame $2.4 trillion budget that calls for massive tax cuts that will expire in 2011 and will only make things worse, he plans on getting rid of domestic spending, eliminating up to 65 federal programs including energy, environmental and agricultural programs, more trips to Mars and possibly the moon. With these plans of action, the White House sees the deficit being reduced to $237 billion by 2009. Of course, this all leaves a hellish future for today's children so they can pay it off. It's hard to believe that George W. Bush is so concerned with educating America's future, as this budget would include $1 billion increase for special education, a $1 billion addition for poor school districts and an $18 million increase for the National Endowment for Arts. It's great that he's thinkinig of children's educational future, but where will that education lead them if they can't even afford to live in their own country? They eventually may not be able to afford the insane price of college, be forced to roll up their sleeves and forget about any further education unless a plethora of scholarships and other financial aid come their way.
