What should government cut?
OK, enough about goats.
Here's another subject about which I really want input from readers.
Namely, bloated government.
I spend a fair amount of time thinking about how our government spends our tax dollars. After a couple decades as a reporter and editor, I am of the general belief that government spending can be cut considerably if: 1) Wasteful spending is eliminated; and 2) Ineffective or unnecessary programs are chopped.
Here's where I want your help: Send me examples of government spending that you think is wasteful or unnecessary. Be as specific as possible. Think federal, state and local. And no sacred cows.
I await your input. And I hope I receive just as many replies to this one as I did to my blog about the goat t-shirts.
Thanks,
Pat
posted by Patrick Rice @ 6:53 AM
14 Comments
14 Comments:
Sorry, you've blown your credibility...
agreed.
...but I do have this creative & humorous idea for a T-shirt I'd like advertised on your blog...
Nope, you haven't blown your credibility.
I can think of waseful spending on the City level for: Ice skating rinks, Main Street.
I think the medians that are on the sides of Hgwy. 98 in Downtown Fort Walton Beach are such a waste of space and money. AND they are empty. There aren't even plants in them. The only purpose they serve is wasting money.
Oh and because of where I work I cannot put my name to this comment however I love this community and love to be able to express my opinion so thanks Pat for offering the annonymous signature.
Well, I know more examples of wasteful govt. spending than there are jokes about perverts having sex with goats.
One that has urked me recently is the Okaloosa School District spending more than $20,000 to pass out DVDs to high school students for the students' parents to watch so they can understand about FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test). Now, these DVDs were given to every high school student, including seniors, who don't have to take the FCAT because ~99% have already passed it. Why they were given to seniors? I have no clue.
But the real problem is that after the students were given the DVDs (the ones they were supposed to take home to their parents) at least 90% of the DVD's were either thrown on the floor in hallways or snapped in half, or just scratched to dysfunction by the students, who could care less if their parents saw the DVDs. And I'm guessing the last 9% either just forgot or were to lazy to give the DVDs to their parents.
So just like that, over $20,000 of our money goes straight down the drain, for what? To provide some kids with the enjoyment of breaking a DVD in half.
It's not the kids' faults, they're young and stupid and could care less. (Don't take that in offense if you're a kid.)
What would have been a much wiser solution to getting the educational DVDs to the parent's would have been to mail them home. Yeah, it would of cost a little more, but at least all our money wouldn't have gone to complete waste. And maybe some parent's would have learned about one of the most important tests that their sons/daughters will ever take in their lives.
Now, I'm not sure if this was the state of Florida's project or the county's, or more specifically Tibbetts'. But I'm really hoping it was the state's, because I would hate to think the person I elected for superintendent did this.
Just a thought...
According to Dr. Tibbetts, it was a state program and thankfully not thought up and purchased here
What about the state spendings. Most of the state operations spend thousands of dollars just before the fisical year is up, on worthless junk that doesn't get used or is disposed of year a later. Just so they don't lose their funds.
One good thing is the lane blockers that were put up in downtown FWB to stop people traveling west from turning into the public parking lot. BIG HELP! Tax Dollars well spent! But those red fake bricks at the crosswalks are a waste, I would have rather seen the money to go painting the light on Memorial!!!!
Are you really interested in government waste?
How about looking at what we're getting in exchange for the money we spend on public education. It currently costs more than $10,000 to put the average American kid through a 180-day academic school year. That's $55.55 per student, per day, and over the 13-year span from K-12, costs the taxpayer well over $100,000.
We've all heard the stories about $400 toilet seats purchased for aircraft by the Air Force. But after the government spent that $400, the toilet seat worked.
I'd like to see a bit of focus on what we're getting for those $100,000-plus high school diplomas we're funding.
A 2003 study by The National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges found that 44 million Americans are functionally illiterate. We're not talking about illegal aliens, here...we're talking about Americans...American citizens.
We currently have about 280 legal US citizens, which means that 15 percent of US citizens can't properly function in their primary language!
This is, of course, only one sign of failure in the education system. There are others. Studies on the public knowledge of Science, American History, and Math don't paint any more flattering picture of public education.
The education of the average American is so poor that TV and radio hosts regularly do "man on the street" interviews to ask simple, basic questions of adults so they can expose just how ignorant many American are. Don't think for a minute that David Letterman has to park a camera on a California sidewalk for eight hours before he can find an idiot to humiliate.
Perhaps some might feel that its too much to ask that American schools prepare adults for taxing questions like "how many moons rotate around the Earth?", or "how much meat does McDonalds use to make its "quarter pounder?", but it might be nice for public schools to at least teach a few of the basics...like teaching people about their Constitutional rights.
After all, we can't expect people to protect and defend our rights if they don't know what what they are.
Your statement "I am of the general belief that government spending can be cut considerably if: 1) Wasteful spending is eliminated; and 2) Ineffective or unnecessary programs are chopped" is obviously correct. There is no one that could disagree with it.
The problem comes in defining what meets that criteria. I have no doubt that there are many people somewhere that think that any given item in the government budget good. These budget items are not just a product of someones nightmare. Each one is placed in the budget for some purpose. The problem is that you and I do not think that this purpose is adequate.
I really think that your goal is laudable but unachievable with the current government structure.
G
In 2005 congress authorized 1.5 billion dollars of tax payers money. The money is to subsidize special signal converters for older televisions. Feb. 19 2009 will be the cut off date for old analog signals. To view broadcast television stations after that date you will need a digital television or a converter. The converter will cost roughly $50-75 bucks of the shelf. If you subscribe to a cable or satellite service this wont effect you. What this all boils down to is everyone will pay for a select few to get free converters. By the way I am a Libertarian. I am not afraid of the big (L). I'm proud of my beliefs and values. I wish more so called small (l) folks would grow a pair. You will never get what you want if you don't support those fighting for it.
http://self-ownership.blogspot.com
Dear Mr. Rice,
If you really, really want to see some of the north Okaloosa county
wasted money at work, please visit the area near the end of John King
Road in Crestview.
We have a newly completed concrete bridge that goes nowhere.
Plus, in 2004 or 2005, the county water and sewer department installed a sewer
line, along with a fresh water system, into the Partridge Hills subdivision
that has 'flushed' out in three different hurricanes (to my knowledge.)
The pipes were laid: as well as the 'surplus' concrete pipes that are
resting throughout the site. [I'd be happy to give you a tour if you have
hiking shoes and want to visit.]
Some photos of the fine work area are at
http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder.tcl?folder_id=702167
if you should care to see how the area looks like.
I'm a retired U.S. Navy - U.S. Air Force man, and spent my last ten
years as a enlisted historian. Currently, I have a occupational license
and am self-employed as a photographer.
Sincerely,
Gerald W. Litynski
850-682-5706
Jerry Litynski
Jerry Litynski Photography
E-mail:
ski4photo@yahoo.com
or
ski2photo@netscape.net
= = =
Here's a specific example of waste. At Eglin AFB, the lunch period is longer if I choose to exercise during lunch. The length of the work day remains the same.
Are these jobs so unneeded that the butts that warm the seats do not make a significant contribution to anything? The bureaucratic counter argument is that a healthier worker is a more productive worker. Alas, those of us in real jobs in the private sector seek our exercise before or after work. But then, our employer does not print U.S. currency that can be so flagrantly wasted.
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