sack316
02-22-2008, 10:45 PM
First, Gayle I realize this seems to point straight at you, but I'd like to clarify that I'm not making a specific thread intended to "call you out". It's just that I've seen that stat posted by yourself in several different threads, and wasn't sure which would be the best to reply in. Thus I simply created a new thread. now that that's out of the way on to my point...
Indeed I agree that it sounds like a pretty trivial amount when looked at as being "Only 1%". In fact I really don't know how much of the budget does go there, could be more or could be less for all I know. But for the sake of this, I'll go ahead and assume that 1% would be a good estimate.
BUT, when you look at that measly 1% as being the $10,750,000,000 that, by my estimations, comprises only 1% of the budget...well that just doesn't sound like small potatos to me. Granted there are other (many other) wastes that go on that we are spending, but for this particular matter I can't see how one can justify that spending because it's only one percent... and at the same time criticize other spending be it wasteful or not when what seems to be the gneral concensus on earmarks is that it is indeed wasteful.
It's like a completely broke person coming into a hundred bucks, and then spending one dollar on something completely unnecessary. Sure that $1 didn't take much of a bite out of that $100, but it surely would have been more useful were it used another way... if at all.
Anyway, just my thought on that and wanted to put a real value on what "only 1%" actually is. in the grand scheme of things $10,750,000,000 isn't really that much when it comes to our government spending... but that sure could be a lot to our education system, our poor, or our (insert any just cause here).
Sack
Indeed I agree that it sounds like a pretty trivial amount when looked at as being "Only 1%". In fact I really don't know how much of the budget does go there, could be more or could be less for all I know. But for the sake of this, I'll go ahead and assume that 1% would be a good estimate.
BUT, when you look at that measly 1% as being the $10,750,000,000 that, by my estimations, comprises only 1% of the budget...well that just doesn't sound like small potatos to me. Granted there are other (many other) wastes that go on that we are spending, but for this particular matter I can't see how one can justify that spending because it's only one percent... and at the same time criticize other spending be it wasteful or not when what seems to be the gneral concensus on earmarks is that it is indeed wasteful.
It's like a completely broke person coming into a hundred bucks, and then spending one dollar on something completely unnecessary. Sure that $1 didn't take much of a bite out of that $100, but it surely would have been more useful were it used another way... if at all.
Anyway, just my thought on that and wanted to put a real value on what "only 1%" actually is. in the grand scheme of things $10,750,000,000 isn't really that much when it comes to our government spending... but that sure could be a lot to our education system, our poor, or our (insert any just cause here).
Sack