Government Waste in Our Midst
I read the recent story about the new $600 million headquarters for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Montgomery County.
The Congress and the president have just participated in a campaign to downsize the federal government and its agencies. This includes eliminating federal functions of government and curtailing others. A huge new facility makes no sense with all the vacant space we are going to have in existing facilities as a result of this agenda.
It makes no sense to build a huge new facility within 500 miles of Washington. We have a traffic gridlock in the metropolitan area at the present time. There is a more urgent need to move part of the federal government administration (agencies) to areas suffering for prolonged economic depression, as in New England and the Southern states.
With all the current and planned communication highways that are in process, there is no need for every management team and its organization to be near Capitol Hill. . . .
ames M. Holway
Ellicott City
Balanced Budget
The Concord Coalition, a non-profit, non-partisan grass-roots organization dedicated to eliminating the federal deficit, is supporting the bipartisan balanced-budget amendment. As coordinator of the Howard County Concord Coalition, I urge all Howard countians to write their Congress members to support the amendment, or else to balance the budget in seven years.
If our Congress people do not meet their fiscal responsibilities and stop the continuing federal deficits, the people who will be hurt will be our kids and grandkids, who will inherit a
less-than-thriving economy, and the baby boomers, whose future retirement needs are in jeopardy. The impact of deficits on the economy will make us less competitive in the global economy of the future and leave us unprepared by our inability to continue investments in research and development and in our infrastructure.
Time after time, Republicans and Democrats alike have had opportunities to make the tough choices that fiscal responsibility requires. Each time they have done a halfway job or sidestepped their joint responsibilities together. The balanced budget amendment will force politicians to stop asking, "Should we balance the budget?" and get to work instead on answering the question, "How will we balance the budget?"
Under the amendment when folks come in asking for special breaks, extra handouts or even to be spared from draconian cuts, politicians will simply have to tell them there's no money to pay for these demands. Or else, if there is a consensus that additional expenditures are required, we will then have to pay for them.
The Concord Coalition recognizes there is a downside to the balanced budget amendment since it doesn't allow the kind of flexibility legislators should ideally have. Hitting an absolute zero balance every year isn't really as important as being fiscally responsible and having the prudence and restraint to run modest deficits when absolutely necessary in times of war, recession and the like. Unfortunately, politicians over the years have not shown the courage to be fiscally prudent. The amendment will add the necessary backbone to their legislative deliberations. . . .
Werner Gruhl
Columbia
The Basics are No Joke
It was interesting to observe the editorial cartoon in The Sun for Howard County on page 4C on Jan. 8 and then read the piece on the student standout on page 10C. It seems odd to ridicule "Back to Basics" in the cartoon, and then honor the achievements of Andrew Wang in a short bio.
The reason we have the likes of Andrew Wang, and many others, is the result of studying and studying hard. His self-esteem is based on his achievements and probably relates to parental support. Self-esteem comes after the work and time spent on learning, not before. It is an on-going process from kindergarten to high school. Apparently, "neglect, abuse, divorce" are conditions of recent vintage and are the fault of all society, not just certain "parents." . . . Study is no different for the rich kid than for the poor one. As long as any individual puts out the effort to learn, his or her self-esteem will grow. The emphasis today has been to achieve status without any effort from the individual. Thus, after decades of having a populace being able to read and write, we currently have a horrendous level of illiteracy in Maryland. By offering fun programs and quick fixes to the learning process, unsuspecting students have found out that they are unable to meet the standards required in the real world.
I believe The Sun actually endorsed Stephen Bounds for the school board. And how long has he been in office? I think your cartoonist should be kept on a tighter leash. Or at least one which allows less likelihood of downplaying "old-fashioned instruction." . . .
R. D. Bush
Columbia