Good Debt - Bad Timing

President Obama's new multi-trillion dollar budget is pretty tough to swallow given the current out flow of resources to the AIG's of the world. But, the budget is overall a good budget and allocates the nation's resources to areas of need.

Check out this blog post:
http://blog.sojo.net/2009/03/26/counting-the-cost-of-good-and-bad-debt/

Why 11/04/08 is a Tough Choice

I have gone back and forth multiple times over the past 2 months as I attempt to decide who I will vote for on Tuesday. My rotation seems to go like this: Barr, McCain, Obama, McCain, Obama, Barr, to not even sure I want to vote.

OK, I know I'm going to vote, I just don't have the confidence that I would like that the person I vote for will be the best for the job according to my values.

I have some non-negotiable issues that I believe are morally right and because of that I require my candidate to agree with me. Here are some of the "big" ones:

• Foreign Policy - I am not an expert on all the different cultural forces at work in the world, but I do know that there is no such thing as "acceptable civilian casualties". And that is not exclusive to American civilians. I believe that every life on the planet is one that was made in the image of God and should be treated as such. Military force should be utilized as a last resort in dealings with other nations/groups/religious extremists, etc.


• Poverty - I have found some stats recently that are somewhat alarming to me. You may have heard similar numbers in the past: The top 1% of American wage earners are sharing over 30% of the nation's wealth. The bottom 40% of American wage earners are sharing 1% of the nation's wealth. I have always been a proponent of letting John Q Public decide how he wants to give his money for charity, but the problem of poverty (in the richest country in the world) is reaching epic proportions. If we aren't of good enough moral fiber to take care of it as public citizens through charitable giving, the government needs to step in.


• Abortion - I believe abortion is murder, it is a sin, and it should be stopped. Will making abortions illegal help stop abortions? Yes, and that should be done. But, I think a bigger step towards reducing abortions in America is dealing with the cause. Most abortions are a result of the mother being concerned about her future with a baby. Will she be able to afford food and health care? Will she still be able to work at all? The government needs to address these issues. But even still, why is she pregnant? Schools need to go further than teaching abstinence only. Students need to be made aware of proper and safe methods of contraception. That is a controversial opinion among most conservatives, but I feel like kids are gonna have sex. The option is uneducated, unprotected sex or safe sex. That's a no-brainer to me.

I think you can see why I am torn. The are other issues that I feel strongly about including immigration, health care, the federal budget, etc. But I don't think those are non-negotiable the same way that the three above are.

Good luck on Tuesday making your decisions and remember, the sun will rise again on November 5. (and if it doesn't, none of this will be a big deal at that point)

America's Budget

I really don't understand why the government can get away with spending so much more than they earn every year. It seems like a simple concept. If you don't have the money, you can't spend it. This seems like a logical break down of the country's budget:


For this little expirement we will use last year's revenue:

2007 Taxes:

$2,568,000,000,000 (2.5 trillion dollars)


The government's spending can be broken down into 3 categories:
Mandatory (53% in 2007)
Discretionary (38% in 2007)
Interest (9% in 2007)


Mandatory Spending includes items that, by law, must be paid to individuals who meet certain requirements. (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.)


Discretionary Spending includes all other items on which the federal government spends money. (Military, Congress, Highways, Education, etc.)


Interest is simply money paid on the national debt.
----
So what should it be in 2009?

Assuming the taxes stay the same and the government has about 2.5 trillion dollars to work with...


Mandatory Spending
Social Security 24% $600 billion
Medicare 16% $400 billion
Medicaid 8% $200 billion
Other Mandatory Programs (disability, veteran's, unemployment) 12% $300 billion


Discretionary Spending
Education 4% $100 billion
Transportation 1% $25 billion
Defense 10% $250 billion
Government Salaries .5% $12.5 billion


Interest Payments
National Debt 24.5% $612.5 billion



Maybe that is an oversimplification, but I think we generally overcomplicate things.