Why Americans Get Angry Over Government Spending

There are a lot of reasons Americans are upset over government overspending. The deficit has been relatively stable in recent months, but has grown exponentially during the Obama Administration. Recently, there have been some real questions as to whether or not our tax dollars are being spent wisely.

On Saturday I posted an article (rightwinggranny.com) about a California surfer who is happily living off the largess of the American taxpayer. There is no work requirement for him to collect benefits, and he has no intention of going to work. Americans are generous people who care about the less fortunate, but I think most of us resent paying for the lifestyle of someone who simply would rather not work. There is also the matter of wasteful spending.

On Sunday the U.K. Telegraph reported that the White House dog, Bo, had been airlifted to Martha’s Vineyard via two MV-22 Ospreys. This was the first time the Ospreys have been taken on holiday by a US president.

The U.K. Daily Mail reports:

It is estimated the cost of the entire vacation, including the 75 rooms booked at a nearby hotel for staff and security, could reach $2 million.

I don’t think that two million includes the cost of the two Ospreys used to fly in the dog.

These two examples of spending that could easily by limited illustrate the problem with the budget debate in Washington. Most Washington politicians have no desire to cut federal spending–the more money they control, the more power they believe they have. Some of the Tea Party Congressmen are exceptions to the rule that politicians always want to spend more, but there are not enough Tea Party Congressmen to make a difference. If we want to see Washington change, we need to send different people to Washington. As long as we keep sending the same people to Washington, we will get the same result. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The American voter is currently the biggest obstacle to reforming spending in Washington. Don’t blame Congress–you elected them.

Just for the record, I don’t begrudge President Obama a vacation–I just think they should have taken the dog on Air Force One and avoided a separate flight by the Ospreys.

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