Redneck Review
No. 36  12/28/15
Wow! Another year fast coming to an end! And despite the many disasters and threats of war, vicious weather, and blackouts, and crisis situations facing our nation, it is time to take note and thank the good Lord above for all the good things we have enjoyed, in our nation, in our state, and especially here in our local communities.
Elsewhere in our troubled world, we read of displaced families, desperately attempting to escape the merciless threats of Isis, struggling to find some haven of safety in other countries around the world, including here, but running into opposition due to fear of Jihad Islami groups infiltrating their midst and threatening disaster to their hosts.
In the political arena, the honeymoon is evidently over for Paul Ryan, as critics both in Congress and outside of it are very unhappy with the new budget adopted by both the legislature, now controlled by Republicans, and the president who is happy to sign!
We are told that the 2016 budget plans to spend $1.1 trillion dollars, with an estimated $400 billion dollar deficit added to our current $19.5 trillion debt. Continued federal funding for Planned Parenthood, despite the furor raised by the news that they have been involved in selling aborted baby parts, and that their budget has been solidly in the black the past few years, is one of the major causes of the irritation for opponents.
The near one/half trillion deficit built into the 2016 federal budget (most older folks like myself have found over decades that the deficit always run higher than estimated, thus the claim above that it will be the $400 billion estimated, will be closer to $500 billion!) simply guarantees more inflation, more price increases in the future! Thank goodness, that the oil glut has slowly reduced fuel prices, thus countering this trend!
What seems strange to me is that all of us rich, poor, and middle class, find our living standard lowered just a bit, year after year. The $5 dollar Subway sandwich I recently found is now $5.60, a mere increase of 60 cents. And doing the math tells us the increase is ONLY 12%! Hundreds of other examples could be given, but the reality is that prices all over are insidiously creeping up, though so slow at least we seem to barely notice! But do not mention this SLOW increase to a housewife who goes to the store frequently to buy groceries! Doing so can get you in a lot of trouble!
Yet, a close examination of the 2016 budget proposed and adopted is that efforts by some cost-conscious legislators to lower expenditures across the board a mere 2% have been rejected outright. Study the budget in more detail, and you will find that most programs have been held steady at the minimum, or allowed a small increase! 
And what does that mean for you and me? Simply that our increased costs of living means we get by with a little less, while our government sees to it that their agencies and programs receive a little more! And that ends up either with more taxes for us to pay, or more debt to pile on our country and hence our children and grandchildren! 
Yes, we have much to be thankful here in America, and especially in our area..., but continued excess by our government does not bode well for the future! So we need to pray and ask God to bless our nation, and our troubled world!! And vote this next year for financially responsible officials!
Jake Wren

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