More Money

Whether we are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, or whatever, odds are we want the same things for ourselves and families. We desire food, shelter, employment, good health, safety for our persons and possessions, education for our children, and basic freedoms, such as speech and religion. Our political differences arise from our concepts of what governments should or should not do to aid us in obtaining our goals.
Those who value personal freedom and believe in individual self-determination want limited government. Those who believe that “government knows best” desire what we currently have in this country — an oligarchy that has spread its tentacles into virtually every aspect of our lives and businesses. Such was not always the case in our land.
The federal government was taken off its diet after the War Between The States and has allowed itself unlimited free trips through the buffet line since Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency. State, county, and municipal governments smelled the blood and also rushed to the feeding frenzy.
There certainly are some things the government in Washington does well. Fifty cents or so to have a letter picked up at my house and delivered across the country in a few days is not a bad deal. If only that acceptable track record carried over into other areas!
Often- far too often- governments perceive a problem in society and attempt to correct it in the only way they know how. They form committees and throw money around. Billions, and possibly trillions, of dollars have been spent on the “War on Poverty” and I need not tell you the result. If I had a clogged sink that did not respond to bottle after bottle of Drano, I would rethink the problem.
In my view, the problem in Washington is not one of gridlock. The problem is that the people who portray themselves as ones of us, while spending our money to convince us of this, are not even distant cousins. You and I live on budgets and need to cut back on unnecessary expenses when an emergency comes up- like a new muffler or an increased insurance premium. They don’t.
The number of zeroes after a figure means little to a politician who has the power of the Treasury’s printing presses on standby. We, the taxed, look at our checkbooks differently. Were money able to solve all our nation’s ills, the Utopian States of America would have been achieved a long time ago.
The last time I looked at one of my dollar bills, it still read the “United States of America.” Since that time billions have been spent combatting social ills. I would take another glance to see if the word “Utopian” had magically appeared, but I just mailed it off to the government. Perhaps next time.
James David Altman is a local writer who lives in West Ashley and has been a contributing columnist for The James Island Journal, The Free Times, and several other publications. He is the son of the late former S.C. Republican House of Representative of John Graham Altman III. You can reach him at rabidreb@gmail.com.