Our Government's Frivolous Spending

Last night, I talked on the phone with my mother about the state of our economy. I'm not sure why, but she and I have always discussed money, who's spending it and how they're spending it. She told me that a small airport near our home is going to get millions in the economic stimulus. They are going to build an entirely new airport, a new runway and the works. This really upsets me, I realize that building this airport will create a few new jobs in the short term, but no real benefit is gained in the long run. This airport isn't going to serve the community, there are only a few planes which ever land at this airstrip. Of those, none are big, commercial planes, the largest of the planes which land at this particular airport probably carries no more than 10 passengers. Once this new and improved runway is built, will there be money to continue it's operation? Probably not, if it is anything like the state of the another runway built in another small town less than 10 years ago. Today, that airport is broken up, with saplings growing in the middle of the runway. Smart spending on the part of our government? I think not. It would be far better to employ two or three people to maintain the airports than to spend millions to build a new one only to abandon it as soon as the money runs out (which it always will).

As I look at the plans for spending the economic recovery money, I keep wondering “At what point to politicians lose touch with what is important?” The money should be going to repair the potholes in our roads, the energy efficiency of our schools (our schools roofs'...I have a leaky roof in my classroom), and a multitude of other things which are actually important to the majority of people. How many people will use the new airport in a year...probably less than 100. How many people will drive down I-35 from Des Moines to Kansas City in a year....too many to count. Which program would be better? Building an airport which serves only those who can afford to take a private flight or fixing a road which is vital to our nation's merchandise dispersal system? The answer seems obvious to me, but my opinion doesn't seem to count. How many of you have heard of a frivolous use of governmental money?

I think one of my students had the right idea in a paper they wrote this past week. When asked how they would “change the world for the better” this student said “I would make sure that politicians used common sense when they make their choices.” I have often wished to be an advisor to someone in power...to remind them that they should use common sense in all of their choices. In all of my choices, I try to think about the long term gain rather than the short term fix.

With clothes, for example, is it better to spend $40 for an outfit I will wear multiple times or $10 for something which will fall apart after 5 or 10 washings? Sure, $40 hurts, but in the long run, it will do me more good than the $10 would have. And after all, my $40 outfit probably cost someone else $100, since they bought it right off the rack, as soon as it came out, while I waited until it was on clearance. I'm not sure if you followed my analogy there...I'm not even sure that I followed it, but what I'm trying to say is that our government needs to think about saving money in the long run, not spending billions for something which won't be a long-term fix. If they spend a small amount of money on a lot of different things, in ten months or a year we will be in exactly the same position we're in now (or worse, since our country will be further in debt). If they take the time, think things through, and make an investment in something that will be sustainable with minimal upkeep, then we will survive this recession and learn a valuable lesson from it. If nothing else, I think that the majority of Americans will have realized that living above your means is not a good thing. Now, I just wish our government would learn this valuable lesson.