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Blogs by Jeanine Collins Malarsky
Callousness in Congress 9/14/2021 12:30:03 PM
Budgeting and spending bills should be a methodical and thorough process. Twin evils reign in Washington D. C. at the moment: speed and irresponsibility. Congress is “working out the details” to spend almost $5 trillion, putting their considerable support and power behind the Biden administration’s budget and infrastructure plan.
Unlike years past when budgeting was a methodical and thorough process, our legislators are writing and debating $5 trillion in bills as though they were racing for the exits in a theater fire. Their panicked approach to passing bills that will bankrupt this nation bear all the hallmarks of our approach to exiting Afghanistan where we abandoned $85 billion of military equipment at Bagram Airfield.
There is an obvious callousness regarding the ‘source of funds’ that permeates our government and reflects directly on the budget process. While no individual or group of senators or representatives made this bizarre decision to leave it all behind in Bagram, someone, either inside the Biden administration, or inside the military leadership, did. This is a rare instance where the public saw the blatant waste. Yes, it rankles my soul-such extraordinary waste!-to say nothing of aid to the enemy.
No excuses accepted.
There is no excuse for the manner in which we exited Afghanistan, no justification for leaving so many Americans and Afghan friends and associates in harm’s way. There is no excuse for the calloused indifference on display for either removing, or at least destroying $85 billion worth of military equipment and supplies. Can it be because they aren’t wasting their own money?
Let's pause for just a moment and consider the timeline.
Withdrawing our troops from Afghanistan was under consideration for months. Please do not tell me we had no choice but to leave billions and billions of hard-earned tax dollars, plus an expensive, fully functional, air base, as a gift to the Taliban. Who felt comfortable deciding no effort would be made to bring $85 billion in supplies and equipment home? We brought it in; we could have brought it out.
How can our congressional leaders allow this precipitate approach to steer our nation toward its financial death? Thousands of pages of details are being written overnight allowing no time for reading and thoughtful consideration. These bills will be passed in the same manner as Obama Care back when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told them to pass it now, read it later. This is irresponsible and unconscionable.
Is this because they are spending 'other people's money'?
There is a smug expression in the business and investment world about using OPM, other people’s money. Some operators think it’s clever to work with ‘other people’s money’, particularly when you lose it. Clever or not, Washington does it every day - with impunity. The problem is, the OPM they so casually throw around is OUR MONEY, yours and mine; and they DO NOT CARE!
Today, it is beyond easy to contact your senators and representatives. If you want to express your disagreement with this approach, click on these links to look up your state. Bingo – there is immediate access to your decision-makers. I’m going to write to my two senators and representative this week and tell them to stop this insanity and return to a responsible and deliberative budget process, regular order. "What is regular order?" you ask. Congress knows what it is and they have abandoned it. But, that's a topic for another post.
The two spending bills before congress now place our country in a dire situation.
Until every voting American gets the message that our legislators DO NOT CARE because they are spending OPM – we face bankruptcy – we face the end of the money train – we face higher taxes – we face an economy choked to death by regulations and more taxes – we face the end of incentives to work, to innovate, to learn, to discover, to hope.
To contact your senator or representative, copy and paste these urls into your internet browser search line.
https://www.senate.gov/senators/
