Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Status quo or kill Grandma?
Brian Burch of Catholic Vote recently asked the question above plus some other questions about government spending and social welfare culminating in this one:
"Which option is the moral and responsible choice? Preserving the status quo? Or would it be better to make the hard choices to reduce the borrowing and spending by our federal government and encourage solutions that address the needs of people at a different level in society?"
Good question! Here are my thoughts: The only workable solution must do two things: 1) Shrink the size and scope of the Federal government, leaving more to the states and to private entities; 2) encourage growth of the private sector so the existing debt and unfunded obligations can be paid without just printing the money to meet them.
The federal government was intended to be very limited, doing only those things that had to be done by a national government. National defense and the federal courts are necessary. Beyond that, everything should be considered. Medicare fraud supposedly costs billions. Private charity does not have that problem.
I do not mean to mean spirited, but entitlements are destructive to the spirit of both the receiver and the one taxed to provide them. Private charity, on the other hand, cultivates a mature, humble, and thankful spirit in both the giver and the receiver. Welfare, in all its forms, is destructive to the fabric of society.
While some may believe greed is America’s biggest problem, I believe rather that it is covetousness; the wholesale coveting of the property, income, and freedom of people who work, live frugally, save, and produce the goods and services that we all benefit from. Our “leaders” too often seek power by harnessing the desire of millions of people to have a better life without having to work to obtain it.
There is no way that continuing to spend the incomes of people yet unborn just to provide an easier life to people today can be considered anything but immoral.
Their money is not ours to spend. Burdening them with our liabilities is a ticket to generational conflict.
Shrink the government and the private sector will grow. Freedom will grow and civility will flower. If not, prepare for hard times because they are sure to come.
"Which option is the moral and responsible choice? Preserving the status quo? Or would it be better to make the hard choices to reduce the borrowing and spending by our federal government and encourage solutions that address the needs of people at a different level in society?"
Good question! Here are my thoughts: The only workable solution must do two things: 1) Shrink the size and scope of the Federal government, leaving more to the states and to private entities; 2) encourage growth of the private sector so the existing debt and unfunded obligations can be paid without just printing the money to meet them.
The federal government was intended to be very limited, doing only those things that had to be done by a national government. National defense and the federal courts are necessary. Beyond that, everything should be considered. Medicare fraud supposedly costs billions. Private charity does not have that problem.
I do not mean to mean spirited, but entitlements are destructive to the spirit of both the receiver and the one taxed to provide them. Private charity, on the other hand, cultivates a mature, humble, and thankful spirit in both the giver and the receiver. Welfare, in all its forms, is destructive to the fabric of society.
While some may believe greed is America’s biggest problem, I believe rather that it is covetousness; the wholesale coveting of the property, income, and freedom of people who work, live frugally, save, and produce the goods and services that we all benefit from. Our “leaders” too often seek power by harnessing the desire of millions of people to have a better life without having to work to obtain it.
There is no way that continuing to spend the incomes of people yet unborn just to provide an easier life to people today can be considered anything but immoral.
Their money is not ours to spend. Burdening them with our liabilities is a ticket to generational conflict.
Shrink the government and the private sector will grow. Freedom will grow and civility will flower. If not, prepare for hard times because they are sure to come.
Labels: government spending, unfunded liabilities, welfare
¶ 8:03 PM
