Happy Winter Solstice! Today is the shortest day of the year, and thus also the first official day of winter. For those with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), the days start getting longer tomorrow by about about one minute of sunlight per day!
Also, on December 21, the US Congress is working to finalize a budget for 2023. The proposed number is $1.7 trillion, with a T.
Each year, the government’s fiscal year ends on September 30. To my knowledge, the last time Congress had a budget by October 1 — that is, on time–was 1996.
There is much that is outrageous about all this.
One outrage is the size.
Early in the Obama administration, President Obama proposed an $800 billion spending plan. That was huge news and sparked nationwide debate for weeks. Now we’re looking at a budget over double that, but with scant attention.
Basically, we’re spending money we don’t have. Our current national debt is over $31 trillion. Don’t take my word for it; check out usdebtclock.org.
Those who have read my previous columns in this space have seen a few other essays devoted to this topic and the need to wake us up. Trying to be intellectually honest, I have pointed out the debt kept spiraling up in both Democrat and Republican administrations.
My inaugural column with The Roanoke Star focused on this Bible verse: The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave. (Proverbs 22:7 NASB)
By always spending money we don’t have, our government debases our currency, creates inflation, drives up prices, creates uncertainty and anxiety, drives up the cost to borrow money, and weakens the nation overall. And don’t let the general silence of US corporate media fool you; you can be assured our adversaries overseas are very aware of this.
I find it unbelievable how many in our culture are still talking about the Civil War, almost as if they’re unaware that Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox way back in 1865, and get so torqued up about statues of men who have been dead for generations, but silently ignore this very new kind of slavery that is encroaching on us all, regardless of skin color, political affiliation, gender, etc.
The crazy spending these past few years is pushing us over the cliff. Maybe a story will help. My wife recently told me that, up until a couple of years ago, she could buy 60 eggs here in Roanoke for about $4.50. Prices have been steadily climbing. When she checked about one week ago, 60 eggs cost $18. Put off by the price, she didn’t buy any. When she went to get some this week, five dozen are now $22. Granted, the bird flu and culling of flocks is playing some role in that, but we see inflation almost everywhere we look.
To see what hyper-inflation can do to ruin a country, look up “1920s Weimar Germany Republic.”
A second outrage is the method.
Congress has been in session all year. As pointed out here (in a post that Facebook has censored) and here, Congress recently had time to redefine the institution of marriage, which has been defined for thousands of years in the western world, but did not have time to make a budget until now.
The budget, which is over 4,000 pages long, was dropped about 1 a.m. a couple of days ago, so we’re supposed to believe all the Congressmen and Senators have time to read and understand all that.
So now, we’re a few days before Christmas, in a hurry, and Congressional leaders say they need to ram this through fast in order to get out of DC before the winter storm hits and then Christmas holiday.
If the budget is passed this week, then the spending is more or less set in stone through September 2023. If a shorter budget can be passed until next January, though, the incoming GOP House can provide more oversight for the Biden administration.
This thread from Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) points out some of the more outrageous aspects of the proposed budget.
Fed up with the political theater and endless excuse-making and lack of accountability, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) released a letter he sent to GOP Senators who may support the budget. In a nutshell, Roy urges them NOT to pass a budget going to September, and if they do, he and his 12 co-signers will work to block any spending bills they propose. Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) has added his name to the letter, the only Virginia Congressman to have done so.
It’s one thing to “blame the voters” for not caring about this, but the media that are largely silent are playing a huge role. Before Christmas, and especially in this difficult year, most people don’t want a Congress that is selling us all down the river.
–Scott Dreyer
Publisher’s Note: Senator Rand Paul completely agrees with Scott Dreyer and has some good thoughts on the subject:
Correction: This column originally claimed “President Obama proposed an $800 million spending plan.” That was incorrect. President Obama’s “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” actually spent $800 billion. We apologize for the error. Since one thousand billion equals one trillion, then $1.7 trillion is more than double $800 billion.