I can no longer afford to drive. Yep, It looks like giving people freedom and democracy is making me leave my truck in between the lines of my apartment's parking lot. But you know what it's okay. I get the pleasure of risking my life every morning urgh I mean riding my bike to school. But you know what, it's okay. Today for lunch I picked my own lettuce from a box on my balcony, tomatoes from my garden, mixed in a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and that's what I ate. No big deal. I have lived to be a frugal person. Definition of irony: I pay car insurance on a car I can't afford to drive. Tuition has risen 30% in the last few years in some areas. Still universities can't afford to provide enough money to pay for grad students. Yes, I chose this life. I'm happy with it. I don't mind being resourceful. I save when I need to save to still be able to eat out now and again, go on trips, and buy the occasional accessory. But really gets to me is that the United States of America doesn't seem to be bothered about much of anything, unless of course it's about themselves. This is all I seem to be hearing lately, Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut. Congress needs to cut this or that. Get rid of spending, "we're broke". Blah blah blah. I know we're in debt (14 trillion, yeah that much). And I once thought that cutting from the budget would be a good thing until I heard that there was a proposal to cut 3.2 billion form the EPA.
"Does the EPA really do anything at all?"
It only keeps corporations and people from having free will to dump anything they want anywhere they choose. If you can take a breath without coughing because of air pollution, or fish in a non-acidified lake, it's because the EPA.
172 million dollars worth of cuts for NOAA. NOAA regulates fish stocks and monitors MPAs. They also have a "small" part in forecasting hurricanes. But hey, times are tough. We have to make sacrifices right?
There is no louder voice than the TEA party right. "We've been taxed enough they say. Fiscal responsibility!" But where do a lot of the services they depend on get there funding? Roads, police, education, military? I get it, we can't raise taxes in a recession. People are hurting right now. If we raise taxes on people in this economy, we double dip. We can't have that!
I truly believed this. I supported the extension of the tax cuts (which could cost our country $830B over the next ten years). And I thought, good for those republicans making sure the avg american get's that 2% cut. And then, Some one had to go to Auburn and poison those dang trees.
Now, people can't give enough to save those two trees! Last I checked $120,000 thousand dollars had been raised. That's absurd. This is the same group saying "we can't be taxed anymore, it'll kill us", in one breath and how much should I give to save two trees. This is the same demographic of people who don't want a tax increase because it is just too much to bear right now. I know how important College football is in Alabama. Were you not paying attention this year? Auburn won the National title. They're not hurting for cash. They don't need to hire expert horticulturalists, they are the experts! What can you do with $120,000 dollars. Well.....
Save 4 teachers' jobs in Alabama.
Feed 2400 African Children for a Year! A year!
Protect 745 acres of rain forest which interestingly provides us with $296,400 worth of ecosystem services (that just happens to be a 147% return on your investment.
Fund 12 Graduate students who go on to be problem solvers and solution makes for a rapidly changing world.
Plant 1714 vegetable gardens in the US which would feed a family of four, reducing household financial burdens.
take 3175 kids to a Atlanta Braves game or 975 kids to a Red Sox Game
How about this, house 48 homeless families in a shelter for a month in D.C. or 2400 families in Haiti for the same time.
Provide clean drinking water for 6000 people. By the way 6000 people died today because they don't have clean water, 5520 of those were children under the age of 5 yrs.
So, with all of this being said, I can't tell you how to spend your money. But I do know that A lot of the things we enjoy like clean water, fish in the market, breathable air, are paid for by us through the government. And if we can raise $120,000 dollars for two trees. Two trees! There is no reason why we can't pull ourselves out of debt, provide services to those who really need them.
~B
The only flaw with all of this is that the people who donated money to the trees had the choice to do that. They can do whatever they want with their post-taxed dollars. You're also assuming that they haven't already spent some of their money the way you would like them to spend it to send African kids to school or plant a garden. While we are talking about people in tax brackets, "this same demographic" is paying 25% or more of everything they make in taxes, while 47% of the people in the US don't pay anything, maybe that's why they feel it's too much to bare right now! Everything in the government needs to be trimmed back. 20% across the board. EPA, social security, medicaid, military spending, everything.
ReplyDeleteI thought about you when I was writing this.
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