Big Government - Small Government

Being a fiscal conservative and a social democrat puts me in a quandary as to whether I like big government or small government.  I do believe our government should have a role in helping people.  However, I also believe our government squanders money on things it has no business spending on.  


If we could figure out a way to balance both, we could reduce the deficit without new taxes.  However, what do I want to sacrifice?  More importantly are YOU willing to sacrifice?


As you know, I'm not big on spending billions and trillions on finding life outside this earth.  That wouldn't make a huge dent, but it's a good start.  I do have a problem with the current welfare system.  It encourages the wrong things.  People really do have more children to get more welfare.  People don't really look for work to get welfare.  People fake physical and emotional problems to get welfare.  I don't have a solution on how to fix it, but somebody in government should.  


We need a strong military, but how strong?  Why do we spend billions on military equipment that has not proven itself.  Like any business, the corporations should spend their money building things the government would buy.  If they come up with something, they get a huge government contract and make a lot of money.  Instead, the government gives these contractors billions before they even see a working model.  Steven Jobs didn't expect us to pay for an iPhone before he had a finished product.


The people in congress who make these decisions are the same people who are staunch believers in capitalism. The way the government gives money to these military contractors is not capitalism.  


We give billions around the globe to people who don't even like us.  I guess it's because we fear that if we don't, they will do harm to us.  Trust me, it's not working for us or for them.  If we decided to give them a little less each year, they might decide to try capitalism to keep the money flowing.  They would eventually be required to build a more democratic system where invention and innovation would be encouraged.  It would lead to bright people creating products and services that their own people want.  Being the welfare giver to these countries is not helping them and it sure as hell is not helping us.


Why are we the savior of the people around the world.  I would love to have the money to help everyone on earth, but we don't.  We have a huge deficit.  Our cost of living is skyrocketing.  We're talking about raising taxes.  We're talking about cutting social programs, education, road and bridge construction, etc. I feel really bad for those people around the globe, but it's not our problem.  Someone else has to step up for them because we have our own problems.


What the hell does this have to do with happiness - a lot.  Taking away our Medicare would greatly affect millions of people.  Even if the government just reduces Medicare's benefits it would be a big blow.  Is anybody even thinking about not giving Medicare or social security to people who have adjusted gross income of over ten million dollars?  


Not funding education is a guarantee our children and their children will grow up in a have and have not society.  Not funding the repair of roads and bridges guarantees our interstate commerce would greatly suffer.  That would affect the Gross National Products (GNP) we produce.  A lower GNP would make us a second class society.


For all of our happiness, we need to get involved.  The most critical thing we have is the right to vote.  Don't give up that most precious right.  Don't just vote for President, vote for every office and every ballot issue.  The worst that can happen is you might be called for jury duty (which is also the right thing to do and is one of the things that makes America special).

The next thing you can do is speak up.  Reach as many people as you can.  Promote your candidate.  

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