Herman

Cain

Read Herman's bio and previous columns

January 19, 2009

Who Cares About $350 Billion?

An awful lot is going on that can distract our attention from the fact that the federal government is about to allocate $350 billion that may accomplish nothing whatsoever. To wit:

• An airplane was able to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River and there were no fatalities. Thank God.

• Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed Roland Burris to fill Barack Obama’s Senate seat. The governor was recorded on tape trying to sell the seat to the highest bidder, but now he claims he is innocent and will fight it out in court. He refused to step down, and the Illinois Legislature dragged its feet on impeachment. They also chose not to call for a special election to fill the seat, as this drama continues.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) said the Senate would not allow Burris to be seated due to the controversy, but they eventually did. The Democratic-controlled Congress would rather have a tainted appointment of a Democrat than risk the possibility of electing a Republican senator.

The fact that Roland Burris is black adds another twist to this drama. It plays the race card. This made it more difficult for an all-white Senate to keep Burris out of our nation’s most exclusive club, at least in the minds of some people.

I guess in the minds of those same people, an incoming black president could not possibly diffuse any suspicions of racism.

• The drama surrounding the Senate confirmation hearings for President-elect Obama’s cabinet has been relatively mild so far. A Secretary of State whose husband receives millions of dollars from foreign countries, an Attorney General who helped to free some terrorists and a Treasury Secretary who made an “innocent mistake” of forgetting to pay some taxes owed. 

But there’s no need for Democrats to worry. They will all get confirmed. Then the mainstream media can get back to their on-going production of “Obama Can Do No Wrong . . . Just Trust Him”.

• New seasons for the hit TV shows 24 and American Idol got started last week, and the NFL’s road to the Super Bowl is underway,

So who cares about a Senate vote to spend another $350 billion?

I do.

I care about out-of-control federal spending. I care about the first half of the TARP authorization that has yielded questionable results. Banks are still not stimulating the financial system with business lines of credit and new loans. Many banks have become ultra-conservative in their practices, while the economy continues to stall.  

I care that this latest authorization is on top of the $10 trillion national debt we already have, and another $500 billion President-elect Obama has said he will ask for when he takes office, all in the name of “economic stimulus”. 

I care that each $350 billion spent by Congress and the president is $1,144 for every man, woman and child living in this country, or $2,500 per tax payer. I care that this is our money.

I care that Congress and the president are mortgaging away the future of this country at an interest rate that we can not pay nor sustain. I care that they are throwing money and politics at the problems, instead of better ideas, common sense and real leadership.

I care that our grandchildren will be the ones to suffer this irresponsibility the most, because we continue to create an impossible problem to solve by not making the tough choices now.

I know that I am not alone. Thousands of people who care have joined me (www.hermancain.com/hitm.asp ). We need millions of people who care and want to try something different to change the direction of our nation.

We don’t need “change we can trust”. We need change we can see.

Those of us who care must be the Defending Fathers.

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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