Dear Editor:
A couple of recent New Tribune articles merit comment.
The article on "Building a Budget to Relieve Financial Distress" was good. "Paying" yourself, even a small amount, every payday is an excellent idea. It is sad that the federal government has chosen to punish small savers with its ridiculously low interest rates, imposed by the Federal Reserve.
Few would argue against having a budget and "living within your means" or having at least a three-month rainy day fund. It is interesting that these concepts are widely accepted on a personal level, but widely ignored when it comes to the federal government. Why is it good for us to spend less than we make yet it is okay for the federal government to grossly overspend every year? The federal government is not short on income, it just spends too much money buying votes and campaign contributions.
(The federal government projects it will collect an average of $10,500 from every citizen, or $28,770 per household, the highest in our history. Much of this will be hidden in the form of "user fees," excise taxes, taxes passed through from taxes on business, etc. The figures do not include costs such as those associated with Obama phones or similar government mandated, but not funded, programs.)
The other article was, "Marriage Today: Rich-Poor Gap, Later Vows, Gays Gain Access." Why is it a mystery that more children are being born out-of-wedlock? It should never be a surprise when you get more of the behavior you reward.
Before Johnson's "War On Poverty" the federal government did not force taxpayers to pay for the births of others' children (and there were few such births by today's standards), now taxpayers pay for half of all births. Why bother with birth control when the government forces others to pay for the birth of your children, pay to rent you a home, pay to feed your children, pay to educate your children, etc.
According to Obama, children raised in a home without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty, nine times more likely to drop out of school and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. We know the results, yet government, and society, continues to reward such pregnancies, rather than make a serious attempt to discourage them.