botak99

I am not the one to follow such things. Still one would have to live under a rock, these days to have missed the tug of war that was played among the different parties, in the white house over the budget. Each party hell bent on having things exactly their way. Little dramas played out nightly on CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and any other news outlet that was aired.

The headlines screamed out at me every time I logged into my email. During all of this, I could not help but wonder exactly what was so hard about balancing our national budget. I understood that there had to be cuts in some areas that would not be popular with the masses. I understood that with such a large amount of money and bills that it makes it a little harder than say for the average household or business.

After a lot of thought, (okay not all that much thought. More like common sense) I came up with a few ideas. Granted it might be a little too late this time around but maybe next year some of the congressional representatives could maybe apply my theories.

For starters, let us cut the funding from some of these "special interest groups". Before everyone gets their panties in a wad. I am not talking about education, medical groups, or social security. I am talking about groups that in truth either don't need the funding (NASCAR who is able to fund itself just nicely with sponsorship from the companies who's logo, we see all over the cars) or these silly ones that are clearly just another way to pocket money (do we really need to know if shrimp can ride a treadmill?). That should free up a couple of million rights there.

Then there is the paycheck for those who are supposed to be doing their civil duty. Back in the day a congressperson did not get a paycheck. It was just an honor for them to do what they could for their county. There were a few perks but for the most part, it was a humble job for humble men. If we could go back to those days. I am not saying that they should not be paid but maybe it's time for a good old fashion pay cut for them as it has been for the rest of us. I mean we have hungry people in our country and our leaders are taking vacations and living in excess. Does not anyone see a problem in this?

Finally, yet importantly, cut out all the extras (true extras). Stop dipping into social security, veteran benefits, and education. Start really looking at the things we could live without. I mean families are always looking within their budgets to see what they could live without. Doesn't it make sense that the government should too?

I am sure these ideas will not be embraced. I am sure there will be many people who think that it is too simple to work. The truth is, maybe we need a little more simple and common sense. Maybe that will help us to survive these hard times we now face as a nation.