Despite an Obscene Amount of Money, Uncle Sam Still Can’t Do Its Job
Whenever I think that I have nothing else to write about, that I’ve covered every issue which holds importance for me, life steps in to inform me otherwise. This happened recently after the first Trump assassination attempt, and also a while back when he talked about what he’d do with executive action. I suddenly found myself with more fodder to comment about (and comment I did).
This week, another situation has arisen that clearly points out the chasm between what we want in an idealistic world and what we can achieve in a real one. After Hurricane Helene's unprecedented destruction in areas unequipped for handling such storms, her brother Milton is at the precipice of leveling some of Florida’s largest population centers.
FEMA has claimed that it is financially tapped out and will not have the resources necessary to provide adequate relief for those most affected by the storm. As with any issue suffering from a shortage of resources, finger-pointing ensues to identify other issues that received funds but are deemed less worthy, and this scenario is no exception.
The Right is claiming that the over $650 million spent on the needs of illegal immigrants, who violated our laws just by coming here, has superseded the needs of American citizens in a life-and-death struggle with a natural disaster. The Left is claiming that the $650 million was from a separate bill and that no funds were “stolen” from disaster relief to spend on behalf of migrants.
What our government, and many of its constituents, always seem to forget is that there is only so much money to go around. Though we elect people to manage how much we provide and how to allocate what is provided, that doesn’t change the fact that it all stems from a finite resource. It’s convenient for most to say “Let Besos and his ilk pay for everything”, but the top 1% of earners already pay 46% of all taxes taken in. The top 5% pay over 65%, the top 10% pay 75%, and the top 25% pay almost 90%. When is “their fair share” enough?
It has also been extensively studied, and despite claims to the contrary, jacking up the taxes of the uber-rich will not come close to making up for the shortcomings of our federal budget. We have over 330 million people, and there are simply not enough billionaires to balance that sheet, even if you think such theft is somehow fair.
What many also seem to forget is that money is fungible. This applied to “relief” packages sent to governments in the Middle East, which we were assured were tracked to be earmarked for humanitarian purposes rather than financing terrorism. It does not take an advanced degree in Economics to understand that, even if such oversight on fund expenditures is successful, freeing up expenses from one place allows more flexibility to spend your formerly strained resources in another.
If your kid has a drug habit and earns just enough to get by, but comes to you asking for help because the rent is due, you could insist that your assistance be used for rent only - you could even ensure it by writing a check directly to the landlord. But that doesn’t stop the reallocating of your kid’s funds, which were intended for rent, to then be used to buy more drugs.
Claiming that money, from a limited umbrella of public funds, can’t be adjusted to meet the dire needs of our citizens is preposterous. Hiding behind a claim that migrant relief funds don’t count because they’re from a separate bill - even if true - ignores the fact that the bill should not have even been passed, as it still taps into a finite resource pool to utilize funds that could be better spent on our people (or, if not needed this year, to be carried over to save for the next year of great disasters, or returned to the taxpayers, or…). But politicians, like drunken sailors, want to spend every dime and then some to satiate special interests and improve their chances for re-election.
Regardless of the bookkeeping obstacles, the facts remain that the majority of the American people are opposed to the open border policies which led to the humanitarian need to divert excessive funds to migrant care, and that innocent Americans are now suffering more than is necessary as a result. Twist the narrative any way you want, but that fact remains so. To think that our people must suffer great losses due to a shortage of money while ideological pet projects and rampant government waste still exist is unconscionable, yet we’re expected to just act like it’s the fault of rich people for not sacrificing even more of what they earn.
Our problem is not with them. It is with our bloated bureaucracy, which runs up annual deficits and explodes our national debt through outrageous levels of unnecessary government jobs, backroom corruption, and waste, and funding countless projects to satisfy paid lobbyists, all of which have almost no bearing on the lives of our citizens.
If we don’t demand better from our elected officials, this will only continue. And more people who fought and worked for the American Dream will become cannon fodder for our insatiable special interests, watching as their lives are literally washed away while our country cries broke.
Zephareth Ledbetter’s latest book, “A White Man’s Perspectives on Race and Racism - Rational Thoughts on an Irrational World”, is available cheap at smashwords.com/books/view/1184004
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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Well stated.
They have "avoided" listening and being accountable a long time ago..
This system cannot fix itself. Too much corruption.