New York Law 911

My Rich Uncle Sam Should Balance his checkbook

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 Article By Leon Tsinberg:

My Rich Uncle Sam Should Balance his Checkbook

                We spend over $250,000,000,000.00 (250 billion) on our nation’s military. Of this money 112,000,000,000.00 goes to personnel, and the rest goes to military programs. I have downloaded and read the Federal Budget which can be found on www.whitehouse.gov. There you will find the worst kept check book on the planet. Line item’s get tossed around with no justification or oversight. For example, last year our military spend 1.7 billion on “advance weapon research and development.” When we look at the line item’s for where this 1.7 billion gets allocated we have 455,000,000 for “advisement services,” 964,000,000 for “equipment,” and 43,000,000 for “supplies and materials.” What’s the difference between equipment and supplies and materials? Where do we find answers to how the military is spending it’s money? There is no more information. Congress “reviewed” this budget, the president signed this budget, but I’ll be damned if I see any explanation for what “other services” mean in § 25.2 of the budget which taxed Americans 158,000,000.  (All these numbers can be found in the federal budget, department of defense, pg. 271).

                Many of us are engulfed in the presidential race. Professor Doernberg said on the last day of our Tort’s class that, we must act professionally in all things we do. As I observe the debates I can’t help notice just that. As Obama patiently waits for Clinton to stop speaking he raises his head and has this look showing respect as if holding on every word. He holds on every word she says in order to have ammunition to use against her later. These are powerful people who have a lot at stake, including personal fortunes, and yet there is no eye rolling, and the odd-balls who do not demonstrate respect all dissipate (Kucinich).

                I was once very ambivalent to voting. I viewed the candidates as evil, and had moral trouble voting for the lesser of two evils, so I participate in our democracy by abstaining, and showing how small our electorate really is. Politicians all toke general ideals such as; god, the constitution, liberty, and global ideas to excite their followers. It is here where we find our biggest problems. Every candidate has said we will move away from our foreign energy independence, but none offer ways to do this. Candidates want to improve our economy and society, again with no plan how. But the problem is the plan, and the devil is in the details. I suggest that more people talk to Sam Capasso and his “Global Energy Network,” plan which promises to power the entire United States on solar energy with a budget of $250 billion (one year in Iraq), and then export this energy around the world especially Europe that cannot afford such great access to Solar energy. Big ideas, big talk, and big promises do nothing if we do not thoroughly examine precisely what the government is doing, and where it is spending our money.

                Finally, I would like to address attitude and pompousness. When money is hard to come by, balancing your own checkpoint is very important. When nobody cares about how money is spent, where its coming from, or the fact that an infinite supply is just around the corner, waste becomes a cornerstone. I was walking by the Federal Reserve Bank in Denver last summer at midnight after having a couple drinks on the promenade in the center of the city. I noticed the lights were on all over the building and the air conditioner was on full blast. Most students reading this have the sense to turn off there lights when they leave and turn off electronics like air conditioners. Likewise, when you drive through the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and you see the beautiful downtown Manhattan skyline, you see that most office lights are off, with only a handful on. Yet, every post office in the country (closed on weekends), keeps there lights on and AC blasting.

Article by Leon Tsinberg