SPENDING GUILT

The other night, our esteemed Representatives scuttled from Washington like cockroaches when the light is turned on, heading for home, vacation or Copenhagen after a few last minute votes, including for the $174 billion jobs bill.  They also passed a $636 billion defense bill, $128 billion of which is going to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  There is no provision for the Afghan surge Obama has ordered, mind you, and a large portion of the money in the bill is going to short term extensions for unemployment benefits, health care subsidies for the jobless, doctor payments, the federal highway and transit system and the Patriot act.  But all $636 billion will be calculated as war debt, naturally.  If the wars aren't expensive enough to make people lose heart, they will make them so, it seems. 

Remember just a few years ago when they were squabbling over any bills costing more than $100 billion?  Now they are passing $1.1 trillion bills without a second thought (and barely a peep from the media) - and hurling insults at anyone who has the temerity to question the speed and size of the legislation.

The jobs bill, as usual, does very little for actually creating jobs.  There's plenty of unemployment relief and additional funding for teachers and firefighters, as well as 'new initiatives' for infrastructure issues like repairing roads and bridges.  Didn't the first stimulus, that is barely half spent, cover all of that?  Or was that just the bill of goods they sold us?

The bills today have officially put America over it's debt limit, so at least there's that....Oh, wait...never mind.  They just raised the debt ceiling by $280 billion.  Reminds me of the old joke 'we can't be broke - we still have checks!'

The insane spending has got to stop.  These bills are so full of earmarks - which both parties are guilty of indulging in - that it is getting harder and harder to determine what the original purpose was.  Not that it really matters anyway, since they can't be bothered to read them and we seem to only get them hours before a vote and barely have time.

With all of the tricks and sneaky closed door dealings going on, it's time we started using their own tactics against them.  One of their favorite ways to get public support for the bill is guilt - 'so you want people to die?!'   Or maybe, 'Oh, you must be one of those greedy selfish types who don't believe in fairness and social justice...'

Maybe it's time to use the power of guilt on them.  Let's remind them who the real victims are.  We need to start bringing our children to the Capitol.  Perhaps seeing those little faces in the gallery will remind them whose money they are spending. 

They seem to have forgotten.

SPENDING GUILT