Tomorrow I have the opportunity to meet with our Congressman regarding a popular federal program that is of local significance and has been zeroed out of the proposed budget. I will defend the program and urge my representative to fund it.
BUT like some of my like-aged friends, I was raised by depression era parents and there was no deficit spending in our budget (except that house loan that was paid off early). It's in my blood to live by a balanced budget and avoid debt.
While I recognize that a rich nation like ours can carry a large deficit, there are limits - such as the deficit affecting national security and the economy. How much farther can we go?
My congressman will probably hear from thousands of people like me defending their favorite program and so will all the congressman across the nation. Even some of the most ardent budget hawks have favorite programs or strong constituencies for programs. Therein lies the dilemma - most people would like to reduce the deficit but not at the expense of the program that helps them or their community.
There will be winners and losers. I will support my program and hope they can find some cuts elsewhere. How about a couple billion out of the 54 billion INCREASE for defense or a couple billion out of the 12 (20?) billion for the great wall?
Someone smarter than me will say we just have to contain are exploding health/entitlement costs. Good luck with that.
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