Federal beast grows under Obama, cuts should come first

The federal government has grown to record levels under Obama and the federal workforce remains much better paid, yet less hard-working than the private workforce, in the perception of many Americans. Under Obama, more than 100 new employees have been added to government payrolls, every day since he took office.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Public opinion polls reveal just how widespread the belief is, with sixty-one percent of the private sector believing that government workers are paid more than their private counterparts. The result comes from a recent Rasmussen Reports poll that was reported by Andrew Malcolm.

Malcolm also reported that the average government worker earned $84,000 per year in money from taxpayers which by his calculation was $32,000 per year more than their private sector counterpart.

Meanwhile, Malcolm quite rightly, highlights Obama's insistence that Republicans agree to tax increases before discussing spending cuts.

He also reported that a large number of employees in Obama's administration are not paying their fair share, citing a statistic from the IRS that reveals some 36 of Obama's White House aides are behind in their taxes. And not by a minor sum either. The aides owe some $833,000 in back taxes.

The general problem facing the nation is twofold. First, we as a nation cannot afford the expenditures we make on a daily basis. While nobody will begrudge basic entitlements that keep people clothed, housed, and fed, within reason, the lavish spending the government does on payroll and other projects is bankrupting the country.

There is no good explanation why the government must pay substantially more than the private sector for essentially the same work.

The second problem is that the government entire, headed by Obama, tends to spend money quite freely. This is not merely an Obama problem, but is common with most recent presidents. Wars, facilities, new hires, and more, all cost money and those monies are increasingly being borrowed on the national credit card, hence the repetitive need to raise the debt ceiling.

Our generous government has made for a safe, and reasonably free environment where many Americans have been able to achieve wealth previously unimagined by their forebears. These people owe a debt to the rest of the nation, of that there is no doubt. They ought to pay their fair share.

However, it is a moral deficiency to expect even the wealthiest person to pay a single dollar in higher taxes while the government continues to spend irresponsibly. What parent would finance such a child's whims as we are asked to do with our government?

The solution should begin with cuts. By starting with cuts, we immediately make available more money for other things, such as more healthcare, more food, more housing, and more infrastructure - things that people need to enjoy equal access to opportunity and a fair shot at the American dream.

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However, this will be a mythical hope so long as our government continues to bankrupt our children with record spending and we wrongly scapegoat the successful for the government's fiscal indiscretion.

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