Posted by
Kevin Alspaugh on Monday, January 28, 2008 10:18:52 PM
I recently had to chuckle over the name calling of Romney and McCain calling each other liberals. Holy cow! Do you know how serious that is? Not really...I am happy to see that these are the roughest words that these candidates can come up with to bash each other. Ronald Reagan demonized these terms to mean that one is costing the government too much money and receiving not enough to pay the bills in Washington.
Come on candidates, lets get with the times. What is this so-called liberalism that is costing the government so much. I'm saying its OK to be a so-called liberal. Am I endorsing the spend spend era of President Johnson? By no means, no! You are business people, lets put this in perspective. Do businesses spend money? Sure,,everyday. But why do they spend money? Because the Government makes them spend? Well yes sometimes but for the most part it is because it is a tool to or a way to make more money. Now is the federal government there to turn a profit? Not really but it would be nice to see it in the black.
Spending money without a return is just poor business and poor government. So what do we do? Do we leave the poor out in the cold? Do we tell the military to fend for themselves? Do we leave Americans without any means to access healthcare? Do we turn a cold shoulder to disasters and tyrants? Do we ignore our international friends? Do we allow education to be poorly administered? Do we ignore our senior population? Do we allow anyone to enter the country because there are no funds to protect our borders? If you answered no, then where on earth do we get the funds to pay for all of this?
A good manager in business will tell you that ignoring payments will produce doom and destruction and the loss of goodwill. So it is imperative to to keep trust in Government and pay the bills. A good manager in business will also tell you without revenues the business will fail and the burden not only falls on ownership but also society. I can't help to think that the answer lies in the proper management of government. Business as usual in government is a mechanical method to justify the means. Quality control in spending habits are almost non-existent. A signed document is all you need and responsibility for the effectiveness of the expenditure can not be found many times. Spending bills are saturated with fat that lines the pockets of corrupt interest groups and organizations. Some of this fat can be used to feed the poor, pay the military, take care of the senior population, give the education system a chance, allow people to attend college or tech schools and for crying out loud give people the opportunity for healthcare.
Do you really have to be a demonized liberal to do all of this? No,,, Lets change the name so there is no guilt associated with it. Let's just keep our poliictal party affiliation a secret so no one can claim who's side you are on. Just work on America's problems together...you know,,,, kind of like the constitution was written to be a protection for individualism and joint prosperity.
Consider some of these things for a change. Welfare program that promotes self-reliance and furthering education. If there are people that don't want to be self reliant, then they should figure out a way to live but not for free. Retirement fund(s) that are geared towards reduced payment for less fortunate and not available to those that are wealthy. !0% rule is always profitable to any organization. Subsidized healthcare that is shared between government, employers and employees. Housing programs that allow the poor home-ownership. They must also be educated in management and financing of their homes including property taxes. Spending bills must have an income and loss statement attached to them. They must have a resolution for how they are going to be paid for and how they will promote prosperity in the nation. There must be a quality control measures saying how the effectiveness of the expenditure will be implemented and any excess funds not spent will be returned to the government for further distribution. There must not be any spend or lose justifications. Any member of the government spending without justification would be dismissed including Presidents, congress and elected officials. The military must demonstrate to the government that its superiority is maintained and that it has equipment and manpower to deter any enemy force. It must prove its effectiveness through fiscal responsibility, performance and audit. People doing business with the government must prove products reliability and justification for cost to government. These checks and balances will produce a more effective way to curb the costs of government and allow the funds incurred for so-called liberal programs to exist.