By  Mahlon “Lon” Krueger
Austin

I wish to express my dismay at the carefree spending of our national politicians. I am fed up with these folks spending money like it grows on trees. It is high time we look for responsible people to get our debt under control.

We are all aware that if we do not have income we have to cut spending; it is painful for us, our government is no different. We Americans have to come to grips with that fact that all of our favorite programs not receive government funds. Our administration talks about entitlement. In it they include the retirees. As I recall when Social Security was introduced it was called Old Age Insurance Fund. I personally have paid into it for more than 50 years. An entitlement is defined as: “(Entitlements) Payments to individuals, governments, or businesses which, under law, must be made to all those eligible and for which funds do not have to be appropriated in advance.”

Hmm, “funds that do not have to be appropriated in advance.” I can’t help but wonder what happened to all the money I and my employers paid to the federal government which is paying a host of people who have never paid in a single penny. I harbor no ill feelings toward those who truly need the money — however, I do for those who see public assistance as their full-time job with no plans to find other employment. But why can these payments not be made from the general fund as opposed to raiding our Social Security?

The time is coming for us to vote. We need to clean house on both a state and federal level. I pledge my support to candidates like Allen Quist, who has pledged to reduce the size of the federal government from 24 percent of Gross Domestic Product down to 18 percent. I continue to hear, “We must raise the level of middle income segment of our population!” That is great, but to do that those who are out of work need a job to see improvement. In order to do that small business has to begin hiring. It seems to me the best way to accomplish this to is allow them to hire people and continue to make something for themselves without pricing their products or services so high they cannot compete with the market place. I firmly believe Mr. Quist will help us achieve the balance needed to get folks back to work and make a concerted effort to balance out budget. He has my vote to replace the big spenders in Washington, and I ask your support as well.

Let’s put responsible people back in charge of out tax dollars and stop the reckless spending and borrowing.