Federal Grant Money Isn’t Free Money
Members of Congress and Senators love to brag to constituents that their hard work has landed a grant for some desired local project.
Just a few days ago, Rep. Don Bacon announced that Legal Aid had obtained a grant of nearly $358,000 under the Pro Bono Innovations Program. Every liberal I know loves the Legal Aid program and praises it for its hard work and efficiency and cries with joy when some needed cash is placed in its pocketbook.
In August, Sen. Deb Fischer proudly announced a grant of nearly $4.5 million for the North Platte airport.
And last May, when disaster struck more than 60 Nebraska counties, Cornhuskers pretty much got in line with Governor Ricketts and all five GOP members in Congress asking for relief in the amount of millions.
In election season, particularly, incumbents are delighted to announce that through their hard work, a library or a road or a hospital would receive federal cash.
At the same time, we all read a week or so ago that the federal deficit for 2019 had soared above a trillion dollars. A lot of that spending is on mandatory programs such as Social Security and Medicare. But a lot of the debt shot up because of President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and increased military spending.
Members of Congress excuse spending (which they proudly announce) because the money is already appropriated and if “our district doesn’t get it some other one will.”
It’s time to say, “Whoa!” With the national debt climbing over $22.5 trillion this month, we’ve got to realize that every time we cheer when some local clinic gets a federal grant or some new road is paved with federal dollars, it means that we have just reached into our wallets and given ourselves a loan of our own cash, or worse yet, the cash of our kids and grandkids.
If I sound like I have betrayed old fashioned liberalism, then I guess I’m guilty. However, it’s just nuts to keep borrowing ourselves into bankruptcy.
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