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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Responsible People Shouldn't Pay for the Bad Choices of Others

By Marsha Thole
Albuquerque resident
          Why do people think it is their right to demand that taxpayers fund their poor choices made as a result of irresponsible behavior ("Build Tax Base Instead of Piling on More Cuts," Oct. 17 op-ed column)? I take exception to most everything the young writer had to say.
        The role of government is to provide for the safety and security of its citizens. Somehow it got off track and now supports the lifestyles of the irresponsible. We who have saved are seeing that money go toward higher taxes to pay for jerks who think they are entitled to welfare because they made poor choices.
        Yes, the state has an education crisis, and not just with Latinos. It is uninvolved parents who think that missing 20 days of school is OK. It is teenagers who drop out of school. It is lazy youths (ethnicity is not a factor — lazy is lazy) who refuse to understand school is work, and teachers are not there to entertain or relieve them of their boredom.
        The writer states, "...government-funded programs are the make-or-break factor for achieving bright futures." Stay in school. Study. Graduate. Don't get pregnant in your teens, unmarried, with no means of support. Those are the make-or-break factors for a bright future. Some people consider being on the public dole their "job," with generations continuing to have children they can't support, knowing that the rest of us taxpayers will fund their lifestyles. Is America great, or what?!
        The writer calls Medicaid "one of the best investments our state can possibly make." Investment? You have to be kidding! Irresponsible people have chosen to spend their money not on health care, but on things (e.g., new vehicles, cable TV, gambling) they don't need to survive on. Bad choices.
        "I know very well how important Medicaid is... I got pregnant..." Why did you have a child you knew you couldn't support on your own? (And don't tell me it was an accident.) Responsible people get married first and have children when they can afford to support them.
        So you "don't understand why our leaders resist creating a just and sustainable tax base to meet our needs." We already have a tax base called a budget that is funded by taxpayers — a finite number. That budget has to be sustainable on the income that is collected. We call that concept not spending beyond your means.
        Your needs? How about my needs? I worked hard (often three jobs at a time) to save and live comfortably in my old age. Those savings are all but gone because social programs are sucking the money right out of us retirees. I have a need, all right: I need to have parents feed their kids breakfast before sending them off to school, rather than making me feed them. That's your job.
        Contrary to what the writer says, the building blocks of a healthy life are not numerous social programs, but teenagers who stay in school, don't skip classes, graduate, don't take drugs, don't get pregnant; people who save, who don't gamble away their welfare checks and families who do not have more children than they can support on their income.
        And no, we are not all in this boat together, as she suggests. Irresponsible people are on a leaking ship, expecting taxpayers to appear in lifeboats full of money to save them.
        The number of people on welfare will increase so long as people act like and think that it is the government's responsibility to fund every social program because they have chosen to make bad choices. If you haven't saved to cover your living expenses and emergencies because you wanted a newer cell phone, or got pregnant, you do not get my sympathy; that is your poor choice.
        Government spending is out of control. As a now single filer, I already pay at least 35 percent more in taxes. Waste is rampant when something is free for the recipient. The more they get, the more they want, and the more room for fraud. Making stupid choices cuts across all genders, races and ethnic groups. If you are going to pay Peter, you are going to have to rob Paul. So the government sticks it to the responsible people by increasing taxes. Frankly, we are sick and tired of it.
        The Legislature needs to make tough decisions to get us out of the mess it created, and cutting social programs should not be exempted from balancing the budget.