A certain professor Zunes at the U. of San Francisco (not exactly a hotbed for minimal government) is under the delusion that
our problems would magically vanish if only we...wait for it now...spent more money! Needless to say, Prof. Zunes has never
held a legitimate job in his life. Why worry about reality when you've got tenure? My missive to him follows.
Dear Prof. Zunes,
I agree whole-heartedly with your sentiment on the war-mongering political parties. Unfortunately, you undermine your
credibility by arguing, "Kerry and Edwards, like Bush and Cheney, have wasted tens of billions of taxpayers' dollars to fill the
coffers of military contractors in the face of severe cutbacks in education, health care, housing, public transportation and other
important programs."
Cutbacks? Severe? No offense intended, but this contention is sheer nonsense. Compare any of these programs today with
their spending levels at any time in the past, even after factoring for inflation. Believe me, the rate of increase is astonishing.
Even if we were to zero-out defense spending tomorrow, we'd still be running a $100B deficit for FY2005, and this ignores the
absolutely criminal financial shell game our political leadership is playing with Social Security "contributions."
If memory serves, Bush and his congressional buddies just signed into law a Medicare prescription program that was estimated to
be $400B…no wait, make that $540B - which means the actual price tag is likely to be several times that figure before the
decade is through. And this is just for medication! I guess we'll just let our grandchildren pick up the tab for that one.
Cutback? Please.
Take a look at the growth in federal education spending since the inception of the DOE in the late '70s. For example, spending
in 2000 was $38B, in 2004 a mere $63B. If this is your idea of a severe cutback, God only knows what an increase looks like.
However one characterizes it, this country can no longer afford the profligate ways of Rome on the Potomac.
Uncle Sam is completely out of control, and not just with its murderous foreign wars. To suggest that it is destructive in Iraq
and Afghanistan and countless other places, but is fully capable of managing every aspect of our lives domestically (while
bankrupting us in the attempt) strikes me as being more than just a tad naïve. It's time for you to wander outside the comfy
confines of USF. I, for one, can no longer afford to pay for all of the free goodies you'd like to shower on everyone.
Try perusing the U.S. Constitution some day. There's no mention about housing, medical care, education or a hundred other
feel-good programs in that document, and that's because our founders did not want the federal government doing these things.
Pay particular attention to the Tenth Amendment. The language is clear, concise and unmistakable. They knew what they
were doing. We should heed their advice.