Waste

I think that we can all agree that we want our government to stop wasting money, right? Agreed?

Here's the problem...

What YOU consider waste, I may not consider waste. What I consider waste, YOU may not consider waste.

For instance, when Bill Clinton closed military bases that were redundant or useless, all that i heard from the right was how Clinton was weak on defense. Same refrain when someone talks about taking our troops out of Germany and Korea and Japan. I considered that cutting waste.

When i hear "universal health care for Americans", i hear an idea that will strengthen America. The right wing hears "waste" and "giving to those who won't work" and "welfare".

Look at it another way. Let's say that you hear about a government program that costs 2 million dollars per year, the objective of which is to set a clock in a government office. It gets off by one second per year, and it costs us two million dollars per year to have someone reset that clock by one second per year. Waste, right? Except then you discover that this program provides fifty jobs to your community. Is it still waste?

I think that what we need to do is to depoliticize this idea of waste before we can start cutting it.

Peace.

Rev. Randal