John Culleton: Impact of cuts is widespread

When viewing the federal budget, most attention is appropriately focused on the big ticket items such as defense and various safety net programs. But the rest of government counts too. And significant parts of it are failing in their missions due to underfunding.
Applications for benefits to the Department of Veterans Affairs are delayed for as long as a year. Although exempted from the sequester, the VA budget has not been increased as needed to cope with influx of new claimants from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This should be every citizen's first priority. We owe it to our returning veterans.
Applicants to the Library of Congress for copyright registration face similar delays. Over the years this service has become overburdened because of the self-publishing boom.
The failure to pass a farm bill, and the attempt by the tea party politicians to punish food stamp recipients by cutting their benefits and insisting on irrelevant drug tests is disgraceful. Don't the drug companies make enough already from the government through no price negotiation in Medicare Part D? These actions show a disdain for the poorest of our citizens that is breathtaking in its inherent lack of respect for these unfortunates.
Those who have should thank God for their good fortune, and share willingly, not grudgingly, with those that have not. We are still the richest large nation on earth. Cutting benefits for the poorest among us is simply immoral.
The food stamp recipients I know are unemployed, though they seek employment and often suffer from disabilities and/or age discrimination.
Most of us do not spend much of our waking hours musing on the Federal Communications Administration and its programs. But the recent robot calls that are part of a scam involving "free" medical alert devices continue despite widespread publicity. We get them too, but we never ever answer an unsolicited offer transmitted by robot call. Unfortunately not all citizens in their 70s or 80s are so wary. Some Carroll County residents have fallen for this scam.
Then there is the robot call starting with "This is a very important message about your credit card..." We hang up as soon as we hear this phrase.
Nevertheless, it is often difficult for us elderly to get to a phone before the answering machine picks up.
We have placed and renewed our placement of our phone number on the do not call list. But FCC enforcement of this law is apparently totally lacking. And the law itself is full of exceptions. I don't enjoy solicitations of any variety delivered by phone. Once you contribute to an (alleged) nonprofit you are on their sucker list forever.
An equivalent influx of scams occurs on the internet. Recently I received a clever one that said that there was a problem with our Newsweek subscription renewal. We did recently renew. Of course I didn't click on any of the handy lines in the e-mail, but I was about to go to the Newsweek site when I noticed a silly mistake.
They quoted the subscription fee in British Pounds. Newsweek would never do that.
Nationally we fear the NSA practice of collecting metadata on phone calls. However I give the FCC or NSA or whomever my permission to listen in to every one of my incoming phone calls and follow up on those stupid scam robot calls. Or better, Congress could pass legislation banning all robot calls and the equipment that creates them altogether. We lived without them for over a century of telephone use. If they are banned now the sky will not fall in.
Such a ban would mean no robot calls during political campaigns. But that would disadvantage both sides equally and please citizens of all political preferences.
In any case, the Rand Paul-ish mantra of "all government is bad" is too simplistic. When we cut programs someone suffers, and someone may someday be you.