Debt, like love, is just another four-letter word. Both possess the same power to turn one’s life inside out and all around. While most of us carry a certain level of debt, it is mostly being paid down as well as we can afford to do it, in monthly payments for cars, mortgages, appliances, you name it. Anyone with a small ounce of financial savvy knows there is a limit. We can live well if we know how to manage our finances.
Not everyone was schooled to live within their monetary means. Among them, it seems, are those the nation has elected to tend their affairs. Money is no object; especially it is not you own. It’s easy to spend someone else’s loot, and there is a divide in Congress about spending money.
Like a husband who wants, but cannot afford a new pickup truck and has a wise wife who guards the bank accounts is the House and Senate and Oct. 1 is looming.
There is growing disdain for the Affordable Care Act as it becomes more evident just how grossly misunderstood was its passage by Congress. Our guardians were not permitted to ask questions until after they bought the package. We see the outcropping of this now as more businesses decide to lay off or reduce to part time employees so they will not have to carry the additional burden of healthcare.
As the star of the old television show “The Life of Riley” would say when he got into a real pickle, “What a revoltin’ development this is!” We are saying the same now as we gaze about the looming mess that will kick many young people, who don’t give a hoot who runs the show. When they begin to see how much they will be paying, even if they don’t want pay, I’m sure they will be satisfied with the result.
Similarly, when middle-income families start to pay more for doctor visits and prescriptions, thanks to the reforms that make healthcare “affordable” for all, I’m sure they will smile and say, “I’m glad we are paying more, because there are folks who will now benefit from our money.”
If I stated the health care act is based in the spirit of communism would I be far off base?
I must give proper credit where it is due to the chap who penned the following. Next time you visit Moscow, you can see his mortal remains still on display: Vladimir I. Lenin, author of the following in his “The State and Revolution,” 1917. It looks to me a whole lot like what we are seeing as part of the Affordable Care Act:
“Democracy means equality. The great significance of the proletariat’s struggle for equality and of equality as a slogan will be clear if we correctly interpret it as meaning the abolition of classes. But democracy means only formal equality. And as soon as equality is achieved for all members of society in relation to ownership of the means of production, that is, equality of labor and wages, humanity will inevitably be confronted with the question of advancing farther, from formal equality to actual equality, i.e., to the operation of the rule ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.’”
When we at the Herald chatted with U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd) several weeks ago, we got something of an insider’s view of Congress.
To understand the divisions that exist under the D.C. dome, I asked the congressman if he had ever met President Barack Obama. No, he said, just shook his hand.
How can it be? In a little place like the District of Columbia, where from among the populous of the nation are gathered 435 representatives in the House and 100 in the Senate, why has there has not been a face-to-face discussion with our representative?
The quick answer may be “wrong party.” I don’t buy that. There is no excuse for a polished politician. “Reaching across the aisle” is what made this nation. What stopped the reaching?
When presidents need crucial support (i.e. votes) they are not averse to putting on the charm. Those acts include breakfast or lunch at the White House with the president. It can be a flight aboard Air Force One. It can be a bit of help in the form of a campaign visit by some big-wig. It can also be a little help getting something for the home district.
That’s not the way our government is supposed to work. Why can’t a congressman get the President’s ear? We’re paying both of them, and when the IRS takes its whopping gulp from our wages, I don’t see any indication on Schedule C, “Political Party Affiliation.”
So we are again faced with the debt ceiling of the federal government. Congressman LoBiondo told us there was nothing gained from shutting down the government. Suppose Social Security checks (or direct deposits) did not arrive on time? That would prove nothing but hard-headedness. If members of the armed forces didn’t get a paycheck, what would that tell the world?
Down here at the grassroots level, we cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to have LoBiondo’s job. It would be frustrating to say the least, to spend one’s days casting votes that you believe are right for your district, and seeing the leadership caring less about your thoughts.
You watch the debt soar. You know even your grandchildren will never be able to pay it off, yet the government keeps spending money. Debt ruined other nations, but we believe it will never happen to us. A year from now, look back to Sept. 25, 2013. Ask about the nation’s debt and look at your paycheck. Ask, and answer honestly, “Am I better off today than I was five years ago?” Debt. It’s just a four-letter word.
Rio Grande – Middle Township Deputy Mayor Ike Gandy gets things done. An elected official who hears the concerns of his constituents and takes swift action is almost unheard of. Mr. Gandy is the outlier. I…