Dollars and Nonsense

With Washington continuing to work on bills to help fund the country for 2012, the discussion on what needs to be eliminated in order to help the nation get back on track toward fiscal responsibility has been raging.

While much of the talks have been based around cutting programs like Medicare as well as other social services, many people look to other frivolous or impractical forms of spending that could be cut.

Although it can be a sort of hot subject when talking about military spending, many people believe that cutting excess funding to the military would be a viable way to help the deficit problem our nation faces.

Not being an expert on the monetary needs of the military, it is very difficult to decipher what funding really is essential and what could be considered frivolous.

One piece of spending that could be deemed unnecessary is the $320 million spent of military bands this year. While music during formal military ceremonies and communication, such as reveille and taps, has great historical significance, it is also a basic communication tool for things like the end of the workday.

The $320 million spent seems like an obscene amount of money to ask taxpayers to fork over, especially seeing as buglers haven’t been used for any sort of essential combat communication for decades.

Bands are just one example of the ridiculous amount of money spent by the armed services on things that are neither practical nor necessary for keeping up with the nation’s defenses.

Putting aside the military spending, other cuts could come from a variety of domestic spending programs. Things such as corn subsidies have historically been a controversial discussion point.

An argument can be made that the billions spent on subsidies based around ethanol production not only costs citizens money in the form of taxes, but also with increased fuel and food prices.

Cutting subsidies and streamlining the armed forces are not only viable options, but I believe necessary to fix the problems that have been creeping up on this country for some time now.

Getting the budget in order in a socially responsible way is key to the survival and continuing prosperity of the United States and the rest of the western world, as much of the world economy is intertwined with American fiscal policy.

There are obviously countless places that America could trim the fat of overspending in recent years. However, that being said, I believe it is the responsibility of the government to do whatever is necessary to keep social welfare programs up and running.

Without these, millions of struggling Americans could be stripped of what little help they get. If we cannot take care of our own neighbors, how could we possibly expect the United States to be capable of being a world leader in the future?