The Tax Dollar Food Chain

City governments are desperately trying to find funds to balance their budges. As usual they are looking to their state houses. States are trying to do the same and hoping for more Federal stimulus funding to do it. Meanwhile in Washington, President Obama has increased the federal deficit by trillions. People have lost their homes due to not being able to pay the money they borrowed from the bank. Health care is being overhauled because people can't afford the money they have to pay back their insurance companies. All of this borrowing and owing and nobody is talking about the real issue, living within our means.

Everyone owes money these days. As usual, our government will be seeking ways to increase taxes to balance budgets. God forbid they should take pay cuts, staff cuts, benefit cuts, to adjust to their current financial income. My city has NINE city council members. All full time. All receive a city owned car and driver. We are only one of a small handful of major cities to have a nine person, full time governing body. Detroit has been shrinking in population and economic base for years, but you wouldn't know it by the way our city government has grown. Ten percent of the city population is on the city of Detroit payroll. The state of Michigan has also taken a big hit in the population and economy in the last seven years. Again, no cuts to our full time legislature. Washington needs to stop this food chain of funding bailouts and let the cities chips fall where they may. Cost control needs to be their main priority. Perhaps if our elected officials learned some on-the-job-training of how to work within their own budget without having to borrow from big brother, they might build confidence in their constituents and create a sound investment for possible new businesses. Confidence in the economy means people spend money. When people spend money they increase funding into the treasuries. We need elected officials who know how to make money. And to get rid of those who only know how to spend it.