I recently read that that Connie Ballmer, who is married to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, has contributed $80 million to National Public Radio (NPR) to help support their operations in the face of their recent federal funding cut off. An additional anonymous donation of $33 million brings the total fundraising haul to $113 million dollars. All of this lovely cash does little to push NPR into working within marketplace realities, so this might simply be a blast of cash that forestalls the need to make difficult business decisions a few years from now, but private donations are far more palatable than never ending government subsidies, which perhaps points the way forward to one potential solution as we try to find a path to reconciling our tax revenues and expenditures, which is a can we can no longer kick down the road. I agree with Bernie Sanders that the super-rich should pay more, but it should be in the form of charitable giving rather than higher taxes—because we simply cannot trust the government to spend our money well.
Sadly, no amount of charitable giving can make up for what, by necessity, must be cut. NPR’s recent windfall, for example, does not balance their $535 million dollar loss of annual federal funding, so they are still in a situation were jobs will be lost, programs discontinued, and a viable mechanism for fiscal sustainability must be found. Despite the best efforts of our keenest scientific minds, money still does not grow on trees, so government will still be saying no far more than they will say yes in the years ahead.
Therefore, finally needing to face up to the plain fact that governing well is a matter of choosing wisely, we come to the question of how to prioritize our spending in a manner that cares for our citizens, protects our nation, and invests in our future. These discussions will be hard, fraught with emotion, and many will be dissatisfied with the outcomes. However, our ability to navigate these rocky waters will determine whether we will still be a leading nation of the world or, like our former colonial masters across the Atlantic Ocean in the United Kingdom, inheritors of a has-been Empire still clinging to delusions of grandeur.
So how should we prepare ourselves to make the best spending decisions so we can remain a nation that is both great and compassionate?
1) Punish Criminals—Both The Big And The Small—Without Fear Or Favor
This is a desperately necessary step. For far too long crooks in our country, whether they are boosting cigarettes at a gas station or robbing people blind with a computer on Wall Street, have counted on the laziness of our Progressive prosecutors and the leniency of our Leftist judges. A disheartening habit of granting grace to criminals without the least regard for the suffering of their victims (while also inventing new ways to punish the law abiding for wanting to be able to live their lives free of bureaucratic pettifoggery from activist government) has caused us to lose faith in the legitimacy our basic governing mechanisms, which renders us incapable of trusting our leadership or ever holding them legally accountable.
Both to preserve our financial resources and repair our tattered faith in the honesty and effectiveness of our government systems, this should stop—today. We must return to the forgotten habit of punishing those who harm or defraud our citizens in the most severe manner possible. No more probation. No more community service. No more sweetheart deals. No more plea bargains. Put them in prison and let them stew in a cell. When others see the consequences of criminality are awfully real and really awful, we can be certain our nation will begin to enjoy a peace and safety it has not seen in many, many long and terrible decades, and we can begin to exorcise the fraudsters who are robbing us blind.
2) Remember That Government-Sponsored “New And Improved” Morality Never, Ever Works—And Costs Us A Fortune
For years government programs have exalted single parenthood, assured medical professionals and educators that it is a good idea to “trans” children, required Americans to provide wondrous taxpayer-funded lives for illegal immigrants and their children, and terrified tens of millions of Americans into spending hundreds of billions of dollars on pointless “green” technologies just because summers are often very hot. Moreover, shockingly enough, our own government has fought a not-so-covert and throughly un-constitutional war against Christians who want to be able to openly profess their faith while also protesting our societal embrace of abortion and pumped money into colleges and universities that promote the hatred of Jews while extolling the wonders of Islamic terrorism. Needless to say, we are now living with the dire consequences of institutionalizing the values of Marxists and Globalists who openly hate America and Americans—and wish for our destruction as a nation and people.
Having convinced themselves that government-approved values are the only ones that must be allowed, several generations of careerist politicians, happy to accept gigantic campaign contributions from soulless extremists, have ruined countless lives, wasted trillions of our tax dollars, and extinguished the very concept of a common morality that unifies us into a single nation. The very fact that presumably serious people discuss further subdividing our already sadly divided nation according to our political and cultural beliefs shows just how successful this corrosive attack on our country has been.
3) Make The Government The Servant Of The People Instead Of The People The Servant Of The Government
Whether we are talking about our Frankenstein tax codes, government grants to encourage the development of businesses that cannot possibly survive in a free market, welfare without work requirements, or the tendency to turn government into the funder of last resort for social engineering projects that enable stupidity and discourage personal responsibility, we have seen many trillions of dollars wasted. If we want a nation that is strong and vibrant, we need to recognize that both fear and failure are normal parts of life, and experiencing and overcoming both builds the resiliency necessary for a successful adulthood.
If the typical ups and downs of life seem too cruel for you, lock yourself in your bedroom and play Nintendo until you’re old and gray. As for the rest of us, we would greatly prefer a government that is much smaller, less intrusive, and generally stays as far away from our daily lives as possible. The vast majority of us are happy to take our lumps and be left alone.
The three steps I have mentioned to help us create a better America are, of course, only a start. It is likely a thoughtful and concerned citizen could add many more suggestions to this list. However, should we find the strength to steer ourselves away from the self-made disasters we have been bringing upon ourselves by electing hucksters to high office, thinking foolishness is tolerance, and letting government dictate our existences, we can certainly make a start toward rebuilding our nation, rediscovering our freedoms, and speaking plainly about how to prepare for another 250 years of success.