Every household must address this issue. Do we buy a TV on credit or save until we have the funds to pay cash?
For decades, we as individuals and collectively through our government, have opted for “instant gratification” and gotten the TV now rather than wait. In our view, that, more than any other single issue, is the root cause of our economic mess.
President Obama articulated a wonderful vision of what America could be. Unfortunately, he must figure out a way to pay for it. He had a clear mandate to bring that vision into reality. We wonder just how long that mandate will last. It is getting pretty thin very early in the process.
Candidate Obama clearly stated that he would go “line by line over the budget” to reduce government spending. We are waiting for him to fulfill that promise.
Imagine, if you will, a president who came into office and first cut government spending. He ignored credit and attempted to build his programs from money saved. What if he demanded and received first a line-item veto authority before submitting a budget based on his credit card? Now that for sure would be change.
Most households tally up income (all of it) then construct a budget to match. Try to increase income or cut spending to make it come out to zero at the bottom of the page. Interest on debt amortization is included in that tally.
We are all arguing right now about how much spending we can sustain. What if instead we argued about how much savings we can endure and defer the spending for later? Show us some real cuts, Mr. President and all of you elected officials representing us. In times like these, leaders should force us to agree to reduce our “cravings” for new TVs before we rush out and buy one.
Would you like to turn things around? Try the above approach. Now that would be standing on long-forgotten principles for all of us.
Opinion
In our view: Spending or saving?
- Opinion
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Our View: Victims should come first
Millions of dollars in donations have poured in from around the world since the May 22, 2011, tornado. Those donations represent money from lemonade stands, charity auctions, corporate gifts and celebrity checks, just to name a few. In fact, one year later donations continue to come to Joplin.
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Beth Meeker, guest columnist: Same-sex marriage battle a quest for equal rights
I would like to take a moment to reply to guest columnist Anson Burlingame’s, “The Marriage Debate” (Globe, May 13).
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Sunday Forum: 2012 graduation speakers key on tornado, mall school and president’s visit
Editor’s note: In addition to speeches by President Barack Obama and Gov. Jay Nixon, Joplin High School’s top students addressed graduates, faculty, parents and other guests packed into the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on the Missouri Southern State University campus. Following are the text of those speeches.
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Geoff Caldwell, guest columnist: Pack mentality takes truth as a casualty
President Obama’s Joplin graduation speech Monday showed that while there’s the political “right,” there’s also a very active “rabid” political right.
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Your View: ‘Study’ can mean anything
A few evenings ago, I watched a television program on the science of marriage.
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Our View: Support for museum
How can you tell the story of Joplin without the accounts of its mining history?
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Our View: Finding middle ground
The G-8 summit held last week in Camp David ended as expected.
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Anson Burlingame, guest columnist: Class of 2012 upholds character, hope
My oldest granddaughter was part of the class of 2012 from Joplin High School, and I attended the ceremony on Monday night.
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Scott Charton, guest columnist: 'Deadline in Disaster' film a story about storytellers
Local newspapers are at their best when they help their communities confront, understand, endure and overcome shared challenges.
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Our View: Make voting easiser
This year’s ballot will not include a proposed constitutional amendment that photo identification be required at the polls in Missouri. Good.
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