Simply Mind-Boggling
Want to have your mind boggled by some big numbers? Take a look at Recovery.org, a website which exists to keep us informed of how the billions of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) dollars are being spent. I clicked on the “For Taxpayers” page and read this:
The President and the Federal government are asking the American people to trust them with an unprecedented level of funding to address the economic emergency. You need to know that your dollars are being invested in initiatives and strategies that make a difference in your communities and across the country. This site will help you track these funds to see how and where recovery dollars are spent and allow you to vote if a project is worthwhile or wasteful.
Oh, yeah, they want us to trust them with an unprecedented amount of money. Isn’t that a joke? Oh, but we can vote on whether we think a project is worthwhile or wasteful. Doesn’t matter that the decision has already been made. It’s going to be done whether we like it or not. Doesn’t that make you feel good? And my dollars are being invested? Gee, I always thought that investing my money was a personal, private decision.
If you click on the link to Recovery.gov, you can see much more detail about all the different projects being funded by ARRA. So you can have a better picture of just how the money the federal government has brazenly taken from your pocket is being spent. Did you know that nearly $8 billion has been earmarked for “weatherization”? Huh? That’s what I said, too. That’s to buy lower income folks insulation and seal up their windows and update their heating and a/c and to make government buildings more energy efficient, too. It says that this program “allows low-income families to reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient, reducing heating bills by an average of 32% and overall energy bills by hundreds of dollars per year.” It all sounds so sweet and charitable, doesn’t it? But think about it – the federal government is essentially forcing one group of citizens to pay for another group’s home improvements. This isn’t charity; it’s robbery. It’s no different than if I came up to you on the street and said, “give me $10,000 so I can remodel my bathroom.” Only difference is that I can’t make you give me the money, but not so with the government. It has the political power to force us to hand over our money to be given to things like home improvements for other people. If we resist, we go to jail. This, my friends, is tyranny.
(Addendum: Just to clarify, I believe that Recovery.gov is to tell you what is planned, and Recovery.org tracks what actually happens.)
I do not know lf you noticed that the public and private sectors are and have been at war with each other for as long as our nation has existed.
The private sector has always been, more or less, for furthering the economic interests of the individual owners of capital, and the public sector has always been interested in furthering more or less the economic interests of the general public.
The public sector and the private sector are with out a doubt have a conflict of interests. It is impossible for these opposing sectors of our economy to work together because they basically contradict each other. That is why in the scheme of things that you have CLASS STRUGGLE. Which side are you on?
Despicable-
I’m not sure I understand your comment. Especially your question, which side are you on? “The individual owners of capital” in the U.S.A. are the “general public” (i.e. American citizens.) How can there be sides? It is the American citizen’s right to own capital, and to invest his/her time and talent in the attempt to earn and hold more capital if so inclined. How is it contrary to the “public sector” (which I assume you are using interchangeably with government) for a citizen to further their own economic interest…thus keeping themselves from being dependent on the “public sector” for food and shelter, and contributing through the taxes paid on that capital to the well being of the “public sector?” I concede that there is a tug-of-war type relationship between the “public sector” and the “private sector” but it seems to me that this is not a tug of war it is in either “side’s” interest to “win.” In this circumstance, it seems the best result is an even match…no “winner” no “loser.”
Marge-
Thank you for pointing out these web sites. Of course I’d heard the talking heads mention them, but had never visited them. I will be now, and hope to visit them regularly. I must agree with you…the feel good “vote” after the fact really is troubling. What’s the point? What do they do with that info? How, in any way, is that useful…or is it a diversion from our real ability to affect change through electing true representatives, and contacting our reps?