As a young person paying my way through law school, I have
become, as my father delicately puts it, a tightwad. I force myself to mentally
justify each expenditure, never buy on the spur of the moment and carefully
examine any alternatives before removing my debit card from the safety deposit
box. I often wonder how this compares to the amount of care our state and
federal leaders use when they spend our money.
For far too long it seems we have accepted at face value the
claim from our state leaders that the amount of money they request (and are
allocated) is what is needed to effectively operate our government. However,
where are we as a state? Our schools are suffering, roads and bridges are
terrible, and welfare spending is higher than ever. It is time for the people of
this state to wake up, to realize that more of our money (your money) is being
spent than ever before. It is time for the people of this state to speak up, to
demand that our elected officials have a line-by-line accounting of each dollar
spent. Finally, it is time for the people of this state to stand up, stand up to
our elected and other state officials to remind them that they work for us. If
they are going to spend our money, they must have something to show for it. If
there is not a legitimate reason to spend our dollars, and a tangible result to
show for it, the dollars should not be spent. We can accept that they need to
spend some of our money but only once they have shown it will be done reasonably
and responsibly. They should spend our money with at least the same amount of
care and reflection as I use on the rare occasions that I spend my own money.
