Government must get back to foundation
Posted April 24, 2011 at 4:50 pm in Opinion
Republican or Democrat, capitalist or socialist, one would be hard-pressed to find an American who does not see the need to reduce our deep federal debt.
But political infighting and a general disagreement about the government’s fiscal responsibilities among legislators has prevented any truly decisive action from being taken to fix the situation.
This conditioned apathy to legitimate action by our government shows how disconnected the citizenry has become from its own government, an issue that is a result of  a gross deviation from the mission the Founding Fathers outlined.
Just an hour before a partial government shutdown was to go into effect, Congress passed a deal to cut $38.5 billion in spending while also allowing funding for the government through September 30. The budget passed the House with a 260-167 vote and the Senate 81-19, and could not have passed without bipartisan support.
But the deal is essentially just a stopgap measure; the budget will be an important issue for voters to pay attention to over the next few months.
The government has continuously tacked more expenditures onto the federal budget, providing benefits for many people but also leading to an ever-increasing national debt and serious economic woes.
Though expenditures on things like public education and social programs might seem necessary, they are often superfluous for the protection of the life, liberty and property of citizens.
We have become dependent on a government that has conditioned us to expect certain entitlements, a dependence that has essentially continued to steep us in debt and economic turmoil.
By cutting every dime of spending not absolutely necessary for the protection of the life, liberty and property of citizens, the government would essentially nip in the bud a repeat of our recent economic problems and allow the people to return to the more independent lifestyle our founders intended for us in the first place.
One cut that hits close to home for many USC students is the decrease in money given in Pell grants. This cut could force an adjustment in how students pay for college, and shows a return to a more economical government will not be easy.
People will have to adapt to changes in government spending that could cut their entitlements, but at the same time, the government will be allowed to do its job of protecting its citizens, without putting its hand in every aspect of our lives.
Such a massive limitation of government powers, while not desired by some people, is the only path that can return our nation to prosperity and prevent a further deterioration of our national and personal finances.
If we ignore this, we will only continue to suffer more and more at the hands of an overly partisan, ineffective government.
This idea will only increase in importance as we approach the 2012 presidential elections. Hopefully students will keep this in mind as the political campaigns continue to heat up this summer.
Candidates will propose their own preferences as to what spending cuts to make. But as the generation that will inherit these budget challenges, the more informed we are on these issues now, the better.
Sarah Cueva is a freshman majoring in political science.
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This article is tagged: budget cuts, capitalist, democrat, federal debt, government, pell grants, republican, socialist
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interesting article, much of the spendings could be cut if the government were to imply a simple clean up at its own doorstep. How many members of congress have a rapsheet ? A convicted felon loses his/her right to vote unless he/she votes in the house or the senate. They get a great healthcare package you and me will never see in our lifetime since THEY will fight healthcare reforms for the drug companies who finance their campaigns.
Another point, a large numbers of people in this country live off the others simply because they know the system better than the rest of us, we spend billions on redneck whitetrash who claim disability because they fried their brains with speed, crack, dust…..(fill in with any substance you see fit). And they keep reproducing like wildfire, watch “idiocracy” for an amusing gander at america’s future.
The japanese were put in interment camps rather quickly after pearl harbor, why can’t we erect a few stakes and a little barbwire around most trailer parks in the nation ? Could be a bonding experience for the produtive americans who are fed the #$%$# up with these inbred leeches biting the hand that feeds them. A quick trip in the south or midwest will make you see that they hate “dem caleeforneeeea leebrolz” while existing solely from the federal taxes collected in our beautiful state.
Whirligig is right. Snipe them off. We can then pawn their gunracked pick up trucks and country records and rebuild the economy.
Getting off the fractional monetary system should be addressed too.
This is racist, sad, and obviously written by a person even more ignorant than the people he or she is condemning. Interestingly, the states of the Midwest have far lower unemployment than the nation as whole, and – gasp – CALIFORNIA. North Dakota’s unemployment rate hasn’t gone over 5% since the eighties and if you were to look at the nations lowest poverty rates, you’d find many of the Midwestern states right at the top. Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul are among this nation’s most cosmopolitan cities, as evidenced by Minneapolis’ longstanding status as America’s most literate city.
Get your racist ass off the couch and actually know something about the place you’re slandering.
I believe that if we the people snipe all the gang bangers, drug dealers & child molestors, it would cause a huge relief to our economic situation! With them all dead & gone there would be no need for hundreds of social, educational or medical care programs. Just imagine the trickle down effect that would happen! And if we all went back to the basics of individual human resposibility like: don’t litter, don’t waste water ( do we really need front lawns, just to look at) don’t steal, don’t keep eating until you become obese, don’t abuse animals, the elderly, children or the disabled. Additionally, if we require all politicians to take a lie detector & drug test once a week I do believe we could make a nice size dent into our debt!
P.S. does our government & military really need to stick their nose’s into every other country’s buisness?
Great article! Most college students, let alone the average American does not considers the economic peril our crushing national debt and ever-expanding government programs put all of us at. There was a good article in the April 25th issue of TIME Magazine discussing how we subsidize the socialized healthcare of European nations by providing military service for them….at an ENORMOUS cost to us! Check it out.
Please, define “essential”. Nothing is essential to LIFE, but plenty of things are essential spending if we want to live in a civilized society. Sure, let’s go back to the level of government in the 18th Century, and see how you like it. Life expectancy of 40 (no health insurance) almost universal poverty (no social security) widespread illiteracy (no public education), and a generally-horrendous quality of life. Your idea is simplistic and ridiculous.
Much federal spending is “nice to have,” not “essential for the survival of the nation.” Congress should focus the federal government on a few items mentioned in the US Constitution, and do them well, before restarting the “nice to have,” parts of the federal government again.
One quick start would be to give away all the federal lands that occur within state boundaries. It takes large amounts of federal efforts to manage resources inside other jurisdictions. All those federal employees could then work for the states and have their contracts renegotiated to what is affordable by the local jurisdictions.