Sequestration: Welcome to Fantasy Island!

Fantasy_Island_228318This whole sequestration battle is nothing but bad acting in a Broadway play. On one side we have our POTUS, who originally engineered and ordered sequestration to occur along with is Democratic cronies in Congress and on the other side we have Republicans who can’t decide whether or not they will have the cajoles to stay on course or be hoodwinked by the left in a game of “ chicken”.

As an individual who has not seen a tax refund myself in over 14 years, let me help my government out a little with this decision.  How about we not use apocalyptic descriptions of how people who call for the cuts want everyone to die and, instead, let’s look at the real picture.  Here are some examples of what seem to be the misappropriation of funds within various departments–that is, if our government were living in the ‘real world’ and not Fantasy Island

Defense

$239M allocated in our Defense fund for cancer research. Really? Since when does our defense budget involve medical research dollars? Why do we need to hide money in our defense budget for cancer research when we already spend and fund $5.1B for the National Cancer Institute?

$120M to use for “alternative energy research” in the Air Force, Army and the Navy (allocated $40M each).  Well I have to give kudos to Sen. John McCain who actually said this was a waste of taxpayer money, however to my knowledge it is still in place. Lip service doesn’t work.

$50M for the National Guard to be involved in drug enforcement. Really? If we already spend $2B a year with the DEA why do we need to send this kind of money for the National Guard to duplicate the same service the DEA is already being paid to do.  If the DEA is not doing its job with the money then by all means cut it out of the DEA funds and send it to the NG, but don’t duplicate the money and spending!

$8M for “Global Aides/HIV prevention”. We already fund $7.8B in the Health Department why does this need to be in our DEFENSE BUDGET!?

$5.1M for “peer reviewed autism research”. Again, this is supposed to be our Defense budget not health/research right? We already fund over $69.1 million in other areas for this very purpose.

$5M for the Starbase Youth Program, which teaches science, technology, engineering, and MATH (STEM) to at-risk youth in locations near or at military bases. The kicker on this is who is involved in this particular funding since we’ve already spent billions on this same program in other areas.  A February 7,  2012, Washington Post article $5,000,000  for the Starbase Youth Program, which teaches science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to at-risk youth in multiple locations at or near military bases around the country reported that a State Senator’s wife was conveniently overseeing a certain program and its website that benefited financially from this generous allocation of taxpayer money. (CLICK HERE for the link to that story.)

$3.2M for bone marrow research. Again, why are we putting research of this nature in our defense budget when we already allocate money in other areas for the same service?

Financial Services Budget

You would think this means finance, such as banks, lending institutions or other areas of that nature. Nope, not our government. Instead, they used this area for…wait for it……the WAR ON DRUGS!

$38.5M for a “high intensity drug trafficking area program” (HIDTA) at the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Guess that explains why so many people lost their savings and were wiped out financially? Maybe this is why Jon Corzine couldn’t remember where the billions he lost went because he was “under the influence” and the Government needed to allocate millions to help with the trafficking?

There is plenty more where that came from good people. Based on my research apparently our government really likes fish hatcheries, algae research and relations because we’ve spent a butt load of money that benefitted only certain states. A few were Republicans who asked for money but the majorities were the fine party of spending called the Democrats in these areas; but the Republicans were guilty in many such as research and research university centers (this was a slap in the face simply because $44M was provided and we just allocated over $60M two years prior…that is a lot of spending in a short time don’t you think?).

Find more wasteful spending here: http://cagw.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2012-pig-book.pdf

These were just a few examples of government waste that could be cut now and would actually help to cut the deficit. Unfortunately the problem with our government is they apparently don’t want to cut anything or pay down the debt but are instead simply shuffling the money elsewhere.  Our government also likes to take the money we no longer spend in fighting wars and incorrectly call those “cuts in our deficit”. It doesn’t work that way in the real world but I supposed it does on Fantasy Island with Mr. Rourk and Tatoo…

As families all across the land have to sit at the kitchen table and cut everything that is not “necessary” and actually counting coins to see what extra money we can take to pay gas for our vehicles or help pay towards a light bill, our Government seems to feel they don’t have to live by the same standards. Even Nancy Pelosi said it was below her “dignity” to suggest their pay in Congress should be reduced.  Poor thing, we certainly don’t want her to not be able to live the cushy, luxurious life she deserves, right?

 

Michele Toth

South Carolina PolitiChick Michele Toth served as producer and co-host of a popular Fox News affiliate station WNRR1380 and still fills in regularly as guest host for the Austin Rhodes Show on WGAC 95.1 FM in Augusta, Ga. Michele has interviewed such guests as Ambassador John Bolton, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Marco Rubio, Economist Peter Schift, and many more. Michele also has assisted as a social media strategist for political campaigns in both South Carolina and Georgia. Michele holds a Masters Degree in Management and Leadership and currently works as an Administrator for a large healthcare entity in Augusta, Georgia. Her articles have been seen on the Daily Caller and several other conservative media sites. You can follow Michele on Facebook and also on Twitter @mychel and see more of her writing/articles on her website chelholt.com.

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