The Need for Governance, in Government Spending.
Let’s face it, taxes are here to stay. Whether you support taxes or not, they’re here forever. Well, unless we face a Rise of the Machines scenario in real life. (I’ll be back.) Property tax, sales tax, occupational tax, estate tax, income tax, even forms of taxes like business licenses that cities require for us to operate a business, that they then tax. The occurrence and amount of taxes keep piling up, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Who’s at fault? Who should we hold accountable? Is raising taxes really the right thing to do, or should we be more fiscally responsible?
“Call me a cheap ass, I call it financial wisdom.”
Fortunately, I keep a very close eye on my spending, by means of what you call a budget. That’s b-u-d-g-e-t, for those fo you taking notes. It’s a thing that tracks every dollar you spend. Coincidentally, the app I use to track my spending is EveryDollar. Call me a cheap ass, I call it financial wisdom. Many of my close friends know how I am about finances. I spend less than I make. It’s how me and my family became debt free, with a fully funded emergency fund, (by age 33) while contributing to multiple forms of retirement. I’ll dig deeper into how you can have financial freedom in another article, but I wanted to offer a little bit of evidence that I know a thing or two about personal finances.
When it comes to income we have a few main options. We can live off the government, get a job, or own a business. Most Americans, including myself, work for someone. While I do freelance photography, it’s certainly not my main source of income. The place I work full-time offered me a job at a set hourly wage. Typically, we get yearly pay raises, but this is at the discretion of our employer, not me. I certainly cannot force them to increase my wage; even if I get myself so far in debt that I cannot put food on the table for my family. Guess what? It’s my responsibility that I cannot manage my money, not my employer’s.
So why is government different? Now I’m not talking about Congress, you know, the people that have access to print money as easy as it is for me to print a recipe off the internet. People still do that, right? I’m talking about local government. People that have limited options like: Be financially responsible or raise taxes on the people they work for. Wait, that’s right… they work for us. So how is it that politicians can force an income increase on their employer (us), but I can’t force a wage increase on my actual employer? Funny how that works, huh?
Coming from a government background I’ve seen my fair share of wasteful spending, not just material things. This includes job creations for ‘buddies.’ I’m sure some people would like to think this doesn’t happen, but guess what? It does. I’ve seen people actually have a job created for them because their ‘buddy’ at city hall didn’t want to fire them for doing something that would have landed me or you in jail, and funny enough, fined by the government. A job that, including benefits, cost the city a pretty penny.
What about one particular elected official that buys vehicles, sells them to his close friend for a profit and then his friend sells them back to his city for yet another profit. He’s making money; his buddy is making money. All this was at the cost of…[drumroll] the taxpayers. Me and you. You and me. I could go on and on… personal use of government vehicles, employees with multiple government vehicles, credit card purchases for personal items, and even some things that are legal (by definition) are a complete waste of taxpayer dollars.
“When the bill is due, the money isn’t there.”
I worked for a leadership that ran their city in the red every day. They said, “We can’t get grants if we have money.” Whether this is true or not, that was their thinking. But when the bill is due, the money isn’t there. What else is there to do when a infrastructure project is up for major repair? (Even though we knew the infrastructure was installed in the 1940’s and major repairs were inevitable.) If we are unsuccessful in generating growth, that leaves one option to generate revenue: Tax increase. Yes, place a burden on the very people we swore to protect all because we cannot manage our money. What ever happen to a rainy day fund? It’s actually pretty simple: Spend less than you make, set back the extra. Hell, my elementary school child has a better understanding of this basic principle than today’s politicians. I have to prepare for that roof leak in my house. It’s not my employers responsibility to fix my roof, it’s mine.
We’ve got to do better. The rampant spending of money can’t continue. Eventually, the debt will come due. We need leaders that will run government as if they were handling their own personal finances. Wait… maybe that is what’s wrong after all?
