Add This Up!

Just a couple of quick things on my mind spurred on by recent news reports. The Obama administration has been trying to convince the illiterate of America that he's been the most frugal president since sliced bread was invented. Now I've said time and time again that our school program has intentionally created math impaired graduates and this is exactly the reason why. They feed us this intellectually dishonest hooey and an astounding percentage of America buys it. When it comes to statistics, Orrin Woodward has always told me that "figures never lie," but he completes that observation with, "liars sure can figure though."

So let's say I told you that I'd kept my percentage of overspending lower than my predecessor. I back that up by saying I've only increased our debt by say, 8%, just for argument sake. I quickly point out that the man who previously held my position increased deficit spending by 10%. Who's bill would you rather pay?

Of course it's a trick question, my predecessor had 9 trillion dollars in debt and to increase it 10% would mean he overspent $900,000,000,000, or 900 billion dollars. My current debt is 16 trillion dollars so if I increase my deficit spending a mere 8% it's $1,200,000,000,000, or 1.2 trillion. While the 8% overrun sounds better, I'd sure rather pay off $900 billion, than $1.2 trillion. Obviously neither is desirable, but there is an actual $300 billion dollar increase by the 8% guy. This isn't the only accounting trick they use to pull the wool over the public's eyes, but it is a great example of how we are being misled. Aren't we suppose to put our full faith and trust in our government? If you do, I'm afraid your a fool. The next time your fed the line that deficit spending is down, your warning bells will go off. They are talking percentages, not dollars.

My next ramble is about the space program. All my life, since President Kennedy challenged America to place a man on the moon in the next decade, I've been led to believe that without the government funding the process, it would be scrapped. Low and behold after government funding is cut, private enterprise steps up and continues to service the space station. There is life after government funding! Kudos to the private sector for showing us that we do best what we do for ourselves. Now if we could just apply that to education.....

God Bless!
Capt. Bill