Editorial #337 No Blank Checks?
I was taught there are three obligations our Federal Government was to provide. Infrastructure, security and enforcement of laws that preserves the “Blessing of Liberty and our Prosperity”. Does anyone care these functions cost money? We pay elected Congressmen to make sure these three functions are carried out. Does anybody believe that Congress is doing this? “We the people” hire that Congress whose only objective is to provide those three functions. Why does it seem like they are not representing us, who is paying the bill?
Outlandish expenditures are made by these politicians, many who have never worked in the private sector, met a payroll or made a profit. Yet they are handling $Trillion of our tax dollars to solve problems, often created by the same incompetent politicians who never resolved anything in real life. They give away your money to get someone else’s vote. This explains why their work is never finished. The only way they can justify this hypocrisy is by calling it: compassionate, kind, generous and Christ like.
In the business world, money is never spent, it is invested to make a profit. Money is a tool to make things or provide services that are purchased by citizens to make their life easier. Businesses pays salaries so people can be self-sufficient and not dependent upon government. A company never spends money without knowing how the funds are going to provide a profit. This concept appears to be completely foreign to most politicians.
In government, money is seldom used to fix anything. It is primarily used by bureaucrats, committees, special interests and those who invest in the candidate campaigns. Too much money is spent on studies, investigations and bureaucracies by those with little experience or knowledge, outside of academia on the problem in question.
This ploy is used by lobbyists to encourage politicians to ‘sign the bill so we can see what is inside’. The departments spending this money have names that are general and broad: Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Transportation, Dept. of Education or Dept. of Energy, for example. None of these departments have grown anything, built anything, taught anyone or generated any energy. They simply spend money, studying ways to keep their bureaucracy going without ever solving real solutions or ending conflicts.
The strategy for this money is to payback their own ‘special interests’ that make politicians rich with insider trading. They simply want a “Blank Check” with no accountability or evidence of progress from previous spending.
Government should never spend money. Reckless spending only increases irresponsibility if the money is not invested with deadlines and accountability for incompetence or poor performance. Like a business, only invest money with tracking to see if objectives to reduce future expenditures or a profit is achieved.
The solution is simple. Unless past funding can show proof of measurable success and completion, no more money should be spent to reward incompetency and fraudulent use of tax dollars.
No more ‘blank checks’ without providing timelines and overviews of entire from start to finish. Where is the measurable results for all the money spent to solve climate change, poverty, crime, immigration, sex trafficking, cancer or the energy crisis? Where is the evidence the $Trillions of dollars and thousands of man/years of labor has accomplished anything? What is the penalty for missing deadlines and wasteful spending with no measurable benefit?
Doing nothing would accomplish much more with fewer unintended consequences.
This is Keith Kube wishing you the best in making the world a better place.
Keith has a regular commentary on WJAG 780 radio at 7:40 on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Check his website www.keithkube.com for past editorials.