BY RUSSELL TURNER
CRAP HAPPENS
I have found that the most important thing we can learn is to have the ability to make rational decisions for all of the circumstances we will face through life. Just a couple days ago my wife and I were driving home and she asked me what I would do if my business failed and I didn’t have as much income to maintain our standard of living. While most of us don’t even want to think of such a scenario, crap happens. I told her there are a couple of things that come to mind. The first and most logical thing to do would be to access the things we need versus what we want. One example would be the need for reliable transportation; instead of buying a new auto next year we would keep the old one and get a few more years out of it until times get better. The second solution, in my opinion, would be the foolish solution. To keep our standard of living constant we could pull out the credit cards and max them out. While the second solution would work for a while, in a short period of time we would be in a much worse condition; we still wouldn’t have an income plus we would be deep in debt. Sadly too many of our state legislators and our governor don’t seem to understand the scenario I just outlined.
Over the past few days I have heard the news about the legislature filling the budget hole in the state budget. Instead of just trying to eliminate the budget deficit they are trying to pull out the credit cards and increase the size and scope of government. To fund their wish list they are ready to increase taxes on everything from beer to cigarettes, fuel and fees on everything imaginable. During the last session and the ongoing special session, I have heard no serious reports on the legislature doing anything to clean up our expenses and work for a state government that the taxpayers can actually afford. Increasing taxes and fees takes money out of the private sector. Has it ever occurred to our elected leaders that the reason revenues are down is because people’s incomes are down and they can’t spend what they don’t have.
If it weren’t for politics we might make some headway in our state. Next year is an election year and the politics have already begun. The proposal to give all the state’s teachers a three thousand dollar pay raise and all government employees a one thousand dollar pay raise is par for the course. The teachers and the government employees do need the pay raise, but so do all of the other citizens of this state. In my area, which is Congressional District 2, the median household income is slightly less than 32 thousand dollars per year. The small business people and the farmers and ranchers, for the most part, are just getting by. With increasing fees on everything imaginable, fuel taxes increasing, etc., it will put more strain upon that 32 grand. We would like to have a pay raise, but we can’t lobby the legislature and get one. We in the private sector will probably figure out some way to survive by tightening our belts, we understand there is one rule in life and that is Crap Happens.
Comments
Post a Comment