September 28, 2005

Who Should Really Do the Rebuilding?

Over the past few weeks our country has experienced two major disasters and the federal government has decided to step up and help the country rebuild. Many in the affected areas are demanding the government come in and bail them out.

I believe most public officials have been afraid to stand up and ask the tough question; should the federal government be offering to rebuild? I say no and here's why:

#1: Federal "help" can cause more problems than it solves. Currently there are a number of issues before the US Congress that are making life difficult for states in the nation. The one that comes to mind easily is education. Education has historically been left to the states. But now the federal government has decided that the states need "help." So without offering any additional funding, the federal government is forcing federal education reform onto states. Now the states are scrambling to change their systems to comply - mostly without being able to meet the federal mark. It is so frusterating that some states are just finally telling the federal govenment, no! But then they risk losing critical federal taxpayer money. Is education really better off?

#2: Money doesn't grow on trees - even for the federal government. The federal government is commiting billions of dollars to help rebuild New Orleans and yet the government is already running huge deficets. The President says we will still balance the budget and do it without raising taxes. If they continue down this path the budget could be balanced without raising taxes but it will only happen at the expense of the states and state taxpayers. The feds will continue to mandate certain programs, like medi-caid, but they will start sending less money. The states will have to balance their budgets within existing revenues or raise taxes at the state level. Either way, it will be left to the states to step up and do what our full time politicians should be doing.

#3: What happened to personal responsibility? Back to the states that are demanding the federal government bail them out. The governement shouldn't be the ones to go in a rebuild. If the insurance companies and the states themselves can't do the job, neither should the rest of us. Maybe people will have to move to another state where the infrastructure is already in place and they can find jobs and put their lives back together. But if they want to go home to rebuild, they should do it without the rest of us paying for the bill.

As for our Senators and Congressmen, it is time for them to realize they can't just keep spending. Until they have a plan in place to balance the budget, they shouldn't be offering to rebuild cities and states.

Posted by Jeff at 08:19 AM | Comments (1)