CBO Warns of "Sudden Financial Crisis"

[BarredBuff]

Im just glad my homestead is getting more sustainable each day.........

 

[~gd]

It doesn't matter who you vote for. All politicians are beholden to special interests, because that's where their campaign financing comes from. Balancing the budget doesn't get them reelected, special favors do <snip> We need accountability to We the People, and currently there is almost none.

The inherent problem is that EVERYONE is a special interest.

Budgetary waste isn't just to jolly up corporations etc who finance campaigns -- it's also, in very significant part, to jolly up the actual voters whom a politician needs votes from. Getting local/regional projects done, tax incentives to bring X industry to the town, things that that politician's voters think are genuinely very important and also things that politician's voters may be willing to concede are not top priorities in the grand scheme of things but they're really NICE and what kind of idiot would turn them down if they're available.

So "We the People" are a large part of the PROBLEM. As long as people keep voting single-issue ("Joe Schmoe is pro-<my particular pet thing> and that's all I care about") and/or encouraging politicians to do whatever they can to divert as much gov't money/programs as possible to that politician's voting area, that is helping keep the budget fat with pork.

It is just sooooo hard for sooooo many people to see beyond "what's best for me personally".

JMHO,

Pat

Once again we agree Pat. this could get to be a habit with me.~gd

 

[Lady Henevere]

That's certainly true, Pat, and wasteful spending is wasteful, no matter who ends up benefiting. But I feel better about elected officials trying to bring industry and jobs to their area than those who do special favors for companies that suppress local business or ship jobs overseas. Elected officials are supposed to work in the interest of the people in their area -- that's their job. Of course, they are supposed to do it in a way that is financially viable, which isn't happening a whole lot.

 

[Icu4dzs]

It has been shown over and over again that the typical politicians we elect are total morons when it comes to fiscal responsibility. These clowns are either lawyers or lifetime career politicians with absolutely no knowledge of how to conserve funds. They don't even know how to balance their own checkbooks.

Maybe it's time we fire all these creeps and hire some seasoned, business minded people who know how to balance a budget. A single mom who knows how to scratch out a meager lifestyle with seriously limited income would be a great candidate. Or how about a small business owner who has grown their business to great profit. I'm sure there are thousands of potential candidates out there who would make our dumba$$ed lawmakers look ridicules.

Sometimes I think we need to have a complete makeover in the way Washington goes about the business of running our country. How about two top leaders in the whitehouse. One for foreign affairs (no not THAT kind of affair) to be the military commander-in-chief and all foreign relations. And one for domestic affairs such as balancing our nation's checkbook among other responsibilities. Each leader would serve one 6 year term on a staggered 3 year election. And neither would be allowed to participate in any kind of campaign activities while in office. At the end of their 6 year term they forbidden to participate in politics ever again.

Can't have two. Has to be an odd number so no "ties that can't be settled"..

Oh, I could go on and on. I hate 'em all.

Hating 'em doesn't solve anything. Use your ultimate weapon...your ballot... and get rid of them permanently by voting them out.

Term limits are completely necessary, IMHO, because being a politician was never meant to be a full-time career. Folks were supposed to serve a term or two & then go back to their "real lives" & live like a normal person, not live in DC for 30-40 years.

This is the most important issue but it has to be resolved by overcoming "voter-inertia" which keeps people glued to their TV rather than to what is being done by congress. The media keeps them "narcotized" with sex, drugs and rock-and-roll" instead of keeping their eyes plastered on the shenanigans going on in Washington, DC. The masses don't care as long as the "free money" gets spread around at election time. Why else would we be in the pickle we're in now if that wasn't so?

We need to be aware of what is going on, not let the MSM tell us what they want us to know. How come we can't watch THEM on TV? Why do we have to have "Desperate Housewives" instead? Why so much trash and not a chance to keep our eyes on Congress? It is because they DON"T WANT YOU TO KNOW!!!

Fight back, watch every move they make and let them know what YOU the voter want.

That is the way to get to them. Remember, a politician makes promises before the election. A statesman makes them afterward.

//BT//
Trim (the mayor elect) sends