With the recent tragic events in Japan and the president's military action against Libya, an important story was lost in the media cycles. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Egypt and pledged tens of millions of your taxpaying dollars to their governmental reconstruction effort. Again, we are left asking the federal government, "Where are we getting the money?"
It's another example of this government spending money we don't have. We don't even know if Egypt is on our side. Last month, Egypt's newly structured government allowed Iran to send two of its warships through the Suez Canal. Now Iran is parked on Israel's front porch.
Our national deficit is at record levels and is expected to reach record levels each year. We are spending way too much money to fix other countries' ailments as well as dropping billions of dollars into our own country's entitlement programs.
According to Citizens Against Government Waste, our current deficit is at $14 trillion. Our national debt is expected in increase by 140 percent over the next 20 years. Who's going to pay for this? Surely, not us. Our kids and grandkids will be left with the job.
The government's solution: Raise the debt ceiling. I say no! How about we make drastic cuts to this country's spending. Let's pull in the reigns on our wasteful spending.
Do you remember when the word "billion" was the new buzz word? It doesn't seem so long ago when the federal government introduced us to that word. Now, the new word is "trillion!"
In essence, the federal government is taking out credit cards in our kids' names and our grandkids' names and charging them to the limits. They will be left to pay the bill. Our future generations will be held hostage for debt that is accumulating before they are old enough to vote in elections that could change their financial futures. Isn't that identity theft? Should the federal government be held responsible for crimes against our future generations?
According to Wikipedia.com, identity theft is a form of fraud or cheating of another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name. The victim of identity theft (here meaning the person whose identity has been assumed by the identity thief) can suffer adverse consequences if he or she is held accountable for the perpetrator's actions. Organizations and individuals who are duped or defrauded by the identity thief can also suffer adverse consequences and losses, and to that extent are also victims.
Hmmm... I think we could make the case. Have we been duped by the government? We all know that the federal spending is out of control. Our children and our grandkids will be paying off the debt that this current president, Congress and Senate are racking up in immeasurable proportions.
We raise our kids with the hopes that they will have the same opportunities that we had. Our children and grandkids may make the same kind of money that we've made, but in the end, their take-home pay will be a lot less since they will be paying astronomical tax rates to pay for this government's irresponsibility. We need to protect our children's and our grandkids' identity.
• Michael Weinstein is co-host of the "The Mike & Winey Show" heard Sundays from 7-8 a.m. on KFYI (550 AM). He can be reached at winey@mikeandwiney.com
Dale Whiting posted at 2:45 pm on Fri, Mar 25, 2011.
Whiney,
Nice try. We all follow your points and most of us sympathize. But "identify theft?" I think not. Hope you can do better next time!
Leon Ceniceros posted at 6:40 pm on Fri, Mar 25, 2011.
LIBERAL/LEFT-WING/SOCIALIST LOVING DEMOCRATS WON'T ACKNOWLEDGE THAT MEXICAN ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE THE MAJORITY OF "PERPS" THAT COMMIT..."IDENTITY THEFT"....THEY THINK THEY ARE ALL PICKING TOMATOES IN YUMA....ALL ..............400,000........OF THEM.
NOW TO THE ARGUMENT THAT THE COLUMNIST MAKES.....GREAT IDEA.......BUT...DOESN'T GO FAR ENOUGH.
ELIMINATE 90% OF FOREIGN AID......PERIOD....WHAT DOES IT GET AMERICA =ZIP
LOOK AT THE ISRAELI's.....AMERICA HAS GIVEN THEM.....$120 BILLION DOLLARS THROUGH OUT THE YEARS FOR WHAT...WHAT HAS AMERICA GOTTEN BACK FROM THE ISRAELI's = ZIP.....(THE PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL TOLD OUR PRESIDENT OBAMA ....TO GO TO.. #@((.....THAT'S WHAT AMERICA GOT FOR GIVING ISRAEL = 120 THOUSAND BILLION DOLLARS = $120,000,000,000.00).
THE FOREIGN AID WE GAVE TO EGYPT ...ALMOST $70 BILLION DOLLARS.....WENT INTO THE PRESIDENT OF EGYPT'S SWISS BANK ACCOUNT.
1/2 OF A TRILLION DOLLARS HAS GONE UP IN SMOKE..THROUGH FOREIGN AID SINCE THE END OF WORLD WAR II.
LOOK AT THE BILLIONS AND BILLIONS WE HAVE GIVEN TO THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENTS, THE PAKISTANI GOVERNMENTS, THE IRAQI GOVERNMENTS, THE AFGHANISTAN GOVERNMENTS..............FOR WHAT....ASK YOURSELVES WHAT HAVE WE GOTTEN BY ...BANKRUPTING AMERICA'S HOUSE TO BUILD MANSIONS FOR THE DICTATORS, KINGS, SHEIKS AND CROOKED POLITICIANS ALL OVER THE WORLD.
wdgnas posted at 6:44 am on Sun, Mar 27, 2011.
leon, you are sadly mistaken. you ask what we have gotten from the 120 billion given to isreal over the years. before the conflicts in iraq and afghanistan, isreal was the proving ground for our weapons and weapons systems. once again i believe, a term over used by the republicans, that you are stirring the pot. the question you should be asking is why are we involved in libya and not bahrain, darfur and any other country that is slaughtering its civilian population with weapons and weapons system supplied by the u.s.? as long as we let our business interests dictate our foreign policy we will continue to use our tax dollars, yours and mine, for a purpose we do not support.
Dale Whiting posted at 9:47 am on Sun, Mar 27, 2011.
wdgnas,
We are holding a place for Leon in a mental instutution but budget cuts in healthcare threaten to close that place down!
Leon, did you know that by CAPITALIZING your text, we given to understand that you are SHOUTING? All of your shouting could open that place back up!