Spending Mimicks Saturday Night Live Spoof

I recently watched a re-run of the Saturday Night Live spoof where Steve Martin and his character wife are reading a pamphlet entitled “Don’t buy stuff you can’t afford.” The couple are so used to being in debt that this simple concept completely eludes them. The comedy is hilarious because unfortunately it’s true. Just like individuals, the government has gone on a spending spree. National debt has reached $11.5 trillion and is expanding by $1 trillion every year. Even if paid off today, each citizen (including kids) would have to chip in $38,000. Similarly our state is over $3 billion short and we just learned that our state has spent $100 million more than last year at this same time. This insanity has got to stop. I believe there are some people in government addicted to OPM (Other People’s Money). They don’t understand that the dollars the government is spending is your money, not theirs. I’m one of your state legislators who believe we need to live within our means and stop spending more than we have coming in. The concept is simple, but just like the spoof on Saturday Night Live not all people seem to get it.