This a good read from Ozzie deFaria who is looking to win the Republican primary and then run against Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Ozzie really hits the nail on the head regarding government waste.
Published on December 20, 2011
As we head into 2012, you will hear many
politicians, business leaders and everyday citizens talking about “the
2012 elections being the most important of our lifetime”. The major
question we must answer is “what should the role of the federal
government be?”. Left leaning Democrats fundamentally believe that the
federal government can help manage fairness and solve the problems for
our citizens (and our non-citizens I suppose). I strongly disagree. I
don’t demonize and feel that those on the left are bad people. I just
believe their philosophy is wrong primarily for two reasons.
The first reason is that the expansion of the federal governments role is not what our founding father’s intended and the United States Constitution does not support this growth. The Constitution and more specifically the Bill of Rights is intended to protect our individual liberties and freedom. The more the federal government attempts to get involved in our lives, invariably the more our individual liberties are jeopardized. These points in and of themselves are more than enough justification on why we need to limit the role of the federal government.
However, I will focus on a more practical reason. We need to reduce the size and scope of the federal government because the federal government is not effective and certainly not efficient in its role as a problem solver. The federal government’s main role is to keep all American citizens safe and secure. As a result, the Department of Defense has the highest budget of all federal departments. However, all departments need to be reviewed and we need to reduce waste in all departments including the Department of Defense. Let’s take the Department of Education for example. This cabinet level department was put in place in 1980 by Jimmy Carter. Has our nation’s public education improved in the past 30 years? I state on my website that Education in America will only improve if we leave the decision-making at the local level. Decisions regarding a child’s education must come from parents in consultation with teachers and principals, not the federal government.
In March 2011, the Government Accountability Office, or GAO identified areas where we can eliminate waste through duplicate efforts. There is over $580 billion identified. I would argue the number is even greater but let’s not quibble over a few billion dollars. You get my point.
Center for American Progress. GAO Provides Valuable Addition to Waste-Cutting Efforts. By Sarah Ayres, Michael Linden. March 15, 2011. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/03/gao_report_waste.html
We have a $1.5 Trillion annual budget deficit and $15 Trillion dollar national debt. We need to start sending leaders with extensive business experience to tackle these problems. Let’s start in Florida’s District 20 in 2012.
The first reason is that the expansion of the federal governments role is not what our founding father’s intended and the United States Constitution does not support this growth. The Constitution and more specifically the Bill of Rights is intended to protect our individual liberties and freedom. The more the federal government attempts to get involved in our lives, invariably the more our individual liberties are jeopardized. These points in and of themselves are more than enough justification on why we need to limit the role of the federal government.
However, I will focus on a more practical reason. We need to reduce the size and scope of the federal government because the federal government is not effective and certainly not efficient in its role as a problem solver. The federal government’s main role is to keep all American citizens safe and secure. As a result, the Department of Defense has the highest budget of all federal departments. However, all departments need to be reviewed and we need to reduce waste in all departments including the Department of Defense. Let’s take the Department of Education for example. This cabinet level department was put in place in 1980 by Jimmy Carter. Has our nation’s public education improved in the past 30 years? I state on my website that Education in America will only improve if we leave the decision-making at the local level. Decisions regarding a child’s education must come from parents in consultation with teachers and principals, not the federal government.
In March 2011, the Government Accountability Office, or GAO identified areas where we can eliminate waste through duplicate efforts. There is over $580 billion identified. I would argue the number is even greater but let’s not quibble over a few billion dollars. You get my point.
We have a $1.5 Trillion annual budget deficit and $15 Trillion dollar national debt. We need to start sending leaders with extensive business experience to tackle these problems. Let’s start in Florida’s District 20 in 2012.
