You say you want a Resolution
It’s not that I have anything against New Years Resolutions. I know that sometimes people stick to them, and sometimes things work out. Twenty years ago a resolution and a couple of $100.00 side bets got me off of cigarettes. Then, after a couple of false starts, I gave up alcohol and chewing tobacco, and I’m getting along pretty well with a couple of last year’s promises. I’ve made peace with the neighbor’s cat, and I hardly ever bring up farm subsidies or politics with my in-laws. Unless they mention it first. Or unless somebody does something really stupid. All in all, I’m really doing pretty well, I think.
But some resolutions are tougher to keep than others. Some resolutions require almost super human determination. Sometimes we need a little help, sometimes we need another plan, and sometimes we just need a little creative score keeping. That’s what I’ve decided to do with my resolution this year. I’ve been watching Congress and it’s imaginative budgeting, and I think I can make their system work for me.
Congress has a developed a system by which they can spend more than they did last year, and still call it a spending cut. I don’t understand how it works for sure, but apparently, if they don’t spend as much as they could have spent, that qualifies as a spending cut, they get to brag about it, and the taxpayers are supposed to be grateful. I haven’t figured out how spending cuts could have allowed our federal budget to double and our national debt to quadruple in the last 15 years, but I guess our lawmakers thought it was working well enough to vote themselves a raise last month.
I don’t know if they saved enough with their spending cuts to send $200 billion, (that’s $400,000.00 for each of the 500,000 displaced families), to Louisiana after the recent hurricane, or $284 billion to help fund 14,000 pork barrel projects that our congressmen depend on to win re-election, but I guess they think they did. It really doesn’t matter because I don’t think they ever planned on balancing the budget or paying off the debt anyway.
But back to my New Years Resolution. I used to make a pledge to lose weight every year. This year I resolve to try not to gain as much weight as I did last year, unless I go over to Moms too many times for chicken and dumplings, or my wife makes one of those red velvet cakes with that fluffy white icing, or our friend and neighbor, Helen, brings over one of those strawberry rhubarb pies with that criss-crossed crust with sugar sprinkled on it.
So that’s my resolution for 2006, and I’m feeling pretty darned good about it. I think I’ll have a cookie.
But some resolutions are tougher to keep than others. Some resolutions require almost super human determination. Sometimes we need a little help, sometimes we need another plan, and sometimes we just need a little creative score keeping. That’s what I’ve decided to do with my resolution this year. I’ve been watching Congress and it’s imaginative budgeting, and I think I can make their system work for me.
Congress has a developed a system by which they can spend more than they did last year, and still call it a spending cut. I don’t understand how it works for sure, but apparently, if they don’t spend as much as they could have spent, that qualifies as a spending cut, they get to brag about it, and the taxpayers are supposed to be grateful. I haven’t figured out how spending cuts could have allowed our federal budget to double and our national debt to quadruple in the last 15 years, but I guess our lawmakers thought it was working well enough to vote themselves a raise last month.
I don’t know if they saved enough with their spending cuts to send $200 billion, (that’s $400,000.00 for each of the 500,000 displaced families), to Louisiana after the recent hurricane, or $284 billion to help fund 14,000 pork barrel projects that our congressmen depend on to win re-election, but I guess they think they did. It really doesn’t matter because I don’t think they ever planned on balancing the budget or paying off the debt anyway.
But back to my New Years Resolution. I used to make a pledge to lose weight every year. This year I resolve to try not to gain as much weight as I did last year, unless I go over to Moms too many times for chicken and dumplings, or my wife makes one of those red velvet cakes with that fluffy white icing, or our friend and neighbor, Helen, brings over one of those strawberry rhubarb pies with that criss-crossed crust with sugar sprinkled on it.
So that’s my resolution for 2006, and I’m feeling pretty darned good about it. I think I’ll have a cookie.
posted by Rex Bell at 11:15 PM
2 Comments:
I sure hope there are poeple out there reading your blog. I enjoy it immensely.
You have a knack for writing Rex.
Mike Sylvester
In the old days Mom called it creative bookkeeping. Today the government simply states we (the people) just don't understand. Common sense and logic have nothing to do with government actions, things are too complicated for either to apply, enjoy your cookie before the health police manage to turn it into celery sticks.
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