In a Google search for Federal budget cuts hurt agencies, one will find that just about all agencies at all levels of government that have anything other than detaining, prosecuting, or killing people as their mission are facing a budget shortfall. Nevermind that the federal budget deficit is in the hundreds of billions and projected to reach over a trillion within the decade. The cuts have affected or will affect everything from wildlife refuges to health care for the poor and elderly.
If the average citizen were to act like the Feds, his dog would starve, his children would go uneducated and malnourished, his grandma and his landscaping would die of neglect, and his house would cave in. While many, if not all, state governments have been mandated by denizens to keep a balanced budget, the Federal government seems to have forgotten the meaning of the phrase in the last six years, thanks to the Republican-controlled Congress and the Bush White House.
Yet, who is really to blame here?
However illogical, it’s a common trait of many peoples throughout the world to believe that (1) their leaders are corrupt and (2) that it’s the way things are, maybe should be, and certainly will be forevermore.
In the United States, though, we also supposedly believe in the principle of a government “for the people, by the people, and of the people.” What does that mean? It means that the government is us. And, if the government is us, we only have ourselves to blame. Therefore, as members of the government, it is incumbent upon us to take back our rightful roles, to hold sacred the ideals expressed in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.
How?
- Read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
- Learn about issues that matter to you.
- Vote.
- Learn about your Congressmen’s voting records and figure out whether they really represent your values and beliefs.
- Understand that government programs do not operate if they lack two things: people – i.e., bureaucrats – and money. The way the government gets money is thruogh taxation. So, if you want government programs (not just welfare, but also National Parks, Interstate Highways, and safe air travel, Homeland Security, to name four), you must accept that manpower takes money and money comes from taxes.
- Call, write, email, fax, or visit your Representative. Tell him or her to stop calling himself “Congressman.” Tell him why you voted for him, or why you didn’t and won’t. Tell him what he’s doing right in your mind and what he isn’t.
- Call, write, email, fax, or visit your Senators. Remind them that they, too, are “Congressmen.” Tell them to stop worrying so much about who of their ilk will be the president in two years and to start worrying about the future of the country. Tell them why you voted for them, or why you didn’t and won’t. Tell them what they’re doing right in your mind and what they aren’t.
- Don’t let the President off the hook, either. Call, write, email, fax, protest – do whatever you can to get the attention of Bush & Co. – and let them know what you think about what worries you most.
These suggestions sound simple, or perhaps simplistic. But, I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: if we want good government, we must govern well.
