9/28/2005

Where is the money going to come from?

In the wake of the recent hurricanes, many people are calling on the government to fork out billions of dollars to help rebuild the devistated south. That is something that is necessary, but my question is where is the money going to come from. In an address to the nation, President George W. Bush asked congress to approve $200 billion to help with the rebuilding effort. The only problem is that there is no more money to go around. With the United States involved in so many different efforts, there is no money in the budget for such a cost. Right we have troops in Iraq which has cost us close to $200 billion. President Bush has also asked for aid of close to $400 billion to sustain his new medicare reform. Not to mention numerous other ventures that are planned and the country is in need of. Sure the U.S. can get the money, but how long will we have to support a national deficit in order to do such. There is no question that the government needs to help the refugees in the south, but the government also needs to begin to think about the decisions they make and the costs the American public will have to assume to support them. If the deficit continues to increase then the means by which we pay the deficit (i.e. taxes) will also have to increase. All I am suggesting is that we begin to think about the decisions we are making before we make them.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

In answer to your question, I don't know. I do know that if taxes go up tremendously I will not be happy, and I think that is what is going to happen. I want to help the people in need but, I can only give so much.

Dr. Tufte said...

-2 on Nate's comment for multiple grammatical and capitilization errors.

This is a common perspective, and it is nominally correct.

But, the fact is that $200 B is less than 10% of the Federal budget. No one likes to take a hit to their budget, but just about any organization can handle 10%.

I think the fact that this view is being pushed is a sign that the government doesn't want to make tough choices, not that it can't.