"Woe is me, but what, me worry?"
Our country is suffering from a plethora of problems too numerous to mention, let alone address, in a mere blog. However, all our problems have one thing in common...they all relate to a "WOE IS ME" mentality permeating government. Those among us who can make our case for being downtrodden seem to me to be favored by govenment to offer assistance, at the cost of those who never complain. State and local governments always have their hands out for whatever they can squeeze from the Federal government.
"The public" is listed as the benficiary on most all government policies.
However, never before has "the public" been bombarded by more political excuses for every crisis and the "govenmental solutions" offered in response as today. Whatever the situation, "immediate need" is applied as the excuse for implementation of policies purported to remedy the situation. That "immediate need" excuse stems from a never ending "Woe is me" mentality pervading politics.
In our own state of Alabama, this attitude came to haunt us in the form of budget cutbacks. It has been the epitome of "Woe is me" politics in action and worsens as we get further into 2015. "Woe is me! We are broke and the budget is $514 Million over revenue!" "Woe is me for we have no choice but to make these cutbacks because the revenue shortfall is insurmountable!" Nowhere will you hear the words, "We have overspent for so many years until we have used up all our options of robbing Peter to pay Paul and we can no longer cover our ass." NO, you will never hear that, even though it is obviously and painfully true! What you WILL hear next is, "Woe is me, we cannot meet our budget without more revenue, so we have no choice but to raise taxes."
This is the situation facing Alabamians today, April 21, 2015. The new budget, as it currently exists, before the legislature, calls for $514 Million in cuts to services and closing of facilities across the state. When it became public that services and facilities we take for granted would be permanently closed did it become clear that the "woe is me" meant US, rather than our state government! Among the proposed cuts are nutrition programs. mental health services, indigent care, court system subsidies and the closing of certain National Guard armories, government satellite offices and 15 OF ALABAMA'S UNIQUE HISTORICAL AND BEAUTIFUL STATE PARKS!
WELL, HELL'S BELLS! If the state government wants to get our attention, it is hard to think of anything to do that as effectively as telling us, "Woe is me, we have to close your State Parks!" The irony in this is the fact that all but 3 or 4 State Parks virtually cover their own costs and a few actually make a profit, adding money to the state's revenue. But that does not matter to our legislators, since the state subsidies to the State Parks are projected to be $13 Million for the coming budget year, so our only choice is to close them. Unlike direct service subsidies that are a total drain on the budget, State Parks generate HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN REVENUE TO THE STATE ECONOMY THROUGH TOURISM! A loss of that revenue will have severe adverse economic impact on the communites surrounding these parks due to the loss of business resulting from the loss of traffic to and from the parks. However, in a budget exercise, those factors are not important since they do not affect the expense side of the budget...or, does it?
Governor Bentley's solution is to raise taxes. Many believe that closing the parks is merely a scare tactic, holding us hostage, to extort support for the tax increases. However, all the tax increases proposed do NOT require a vote of the people, since they would surely not support them! "Woe is me, we have to raise taxes, but just those that are not so evident and do not require a vote of the people;" Let me interpret that to really mean that, "Because your ELECTED State officials cannot manage our state's affairs and have put us in this position, YOU, our constituents, must bear the sacrifice." The stentch from this obviouos deceitful tactic on the part of our government is overwhelming!
What is NOT proposed are a cut in legislators' pay, reducing the state's vehicle fleet, a perk in many cases, A STATE LOTTERY or any number of other solutions alternative to raising taxes. Ignored in all of this is the lost revenue from tourism and the taxes on goods and services the state will lose as a result. Rather, it is just a short-sighted solution to an immediate budget problem, without considerationn for the longer term effects on the citizens and businesses of Alabama, its visitors or, yes, even state revenue!
"Woe is me, the wagon wheel is broken and YOU have to fix it...and pay for it...even though we admit we broke the wheel through our carelessness!" We, the poeple, are forced to say, "Woe is me, because we elected incompetent, wasteful officials who squandered our tax money on too many pet projects and now WE have to bail them out." "What, me worry? The legislators brought us here, so why can't they bring us out?" Because Alabama has the MOST EARMARKED FUNDS (% of budget), which cannot be transferred to other departments or programs, THAN ANY OTHER STATE IN THE NATION! This severely penalizes the ability to rationally govern and manage the state's resources in times of crisis. Unfortunatly, it is we the people who must sacrifice and suffer and pay the price for remedy.
The past attitude of "spending while we got it" on the part of our state government MUST STOP HERE! They must examine ALL earmarked funds and pass legislation to clear these funds for transfer as the need arises. They MUST reconsider a state lottery. They MUST stop their "Woe is me" politics and bring sanity to its affairs. They MUST reverse the "We have done so little with so much for so long that we are now forced to do nothing." mentality to pledge, "We have done so much with so little for so long that we are now qualified to do anything with nothing." Only then will "Woe is me." be turned into a "can do regardless" state.
(c) 2015 The Pursang Group
