"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy..." - Alexander Fraser Tytler, Scottish lawyer and writer, 1770
Approximately 9,000 earmarks costing about $8 Billion were included in the 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill. If the $8 Billion was excluded, the tax bill for 800,000 families would be reduced by $10,000 each, a real tax relief to America’s Middle Class. And that example was just for the Omnibus Spending Bill in 2009. In fiscal year’s 2008 Total Federal Budget, there were approximately 11,500 earmarks totaling about $16.5 Billion for the year. This means in 2008, 1 ½ million families could have saved over $10,000 each in taxes. Again, this would be meaningful tax relief for the middle class. A Billion here and a Billion there and pretty soon you’re talking serious money; if Congress only knew. Although the party in power gets the majority of earmarks included in a bill, earmarks do not belong to any one party alone. Each political party is guilty; a factual wakeup call for all the American public. The public hears of transparency, earmarks are an area where transparency would be appreciated. The larger the total budget, the less any one earmark becomes ‘meaningful.’ Therefore, Congress may have a selfish motive to continually spend and increase the budget. In 2008, the total Federal Budget was a little less than $3 Trillion. With earmarks at $16.5 Billion, they represented “only” 0.55% of the total, a little more than ½%. Now that doesn’t sound so bad. The larger the total budget, the less ominous each earmark. Congress has a way of using percentages instead of real dollar figures to fool the public. Of course they’ve had years and years of practice.
Earmarks should not be included in proposed bills. Each earmark should be reported to the public (transparency) and should include: The sponsor, the amount, the purpose and the local or national benefit to the public. Earmarks should be voted on separately, based on merits only. A bill coming before Congress should have a theme, an easily distinguishable commonality. Any proposals, additions, or amendments must match the theme of the proposed bill. If not, a separate vote is essential. Congressmen should not force millions of taxpayers to fund their pet projects by burying them in otherwise worthwhile legislation. It’s our money they’re spending, not theirs.
In the political system there is also a practice of adding special provisions to a bill to get one or more congressman’s support. These provisions are different than the earmarks discussed above and may actually benefit the Congressman’s state or district residents; however, the provisions are only being added to secure a vote and not to enhance the proposed bill. They do not add value to the entire country. In 2009, we saw this happen with the Health Reform Bill. Hundreds of millions of dollars were added so that a few areas of the country would benefit at the expense of the rest of the country. This was only done to get enough votes to pass the bill. Without these provisions being added, it is doubtful that the bill would be passed. In other words, on the merits of the bill alone, there would not have been passage.
Adding entitlements and earmarks to an existing bill needs to be stopped and should only be part of a bill if they speak to the main message of the legislation. These special interest amendments should be voted on separately instead of holding the main bill hostage. Unless these practices are eliminated, the American public will continue to suffer financially. Enough cannot be said for the amount of unnecessary tax money that is paid by working families to support these actions. More spending does not solve problems; efficient spending does. And, extraneous spending is shameful.
This YouTube is a must see to Find Out how Harry And Nancy spend your tax dollars:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVnbFE-7dFE
This YouTube is a must see to Find Out how Harry And Nancy spend your tax dollars:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVnbFE-7dFE
This is an excerpt from the book "Essays From a Fed-Up Middle Aged, Middle Class American" By: Andy Strum
Available on Amazon at:
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