Straight
Talk
with Mike Deering T-Ball Politics Charley is now five years old. It is hard to believe I am going to have a kindergartner this year. We are trying to familiarize him with other kids he will be going to school with. We signed him up for t-ball, and I have the airhorns ready. He and his mother are convinced I am taking this too seriously and will embarrass him. Little did I know, t-ball is not what it used to be. There are essentially no real rules, and they do not keep score. It is a free-for-all likened to a fishless fishing derby at a kiddie pool where everyone gets a trophy.
APRIL 2021
As I am biting my tongue so I do not develop a reputation as the crazy parent prior to my son entering kindergarten, I cannot help but compare this to politics. Politicians seem to need everyone to feel warm and fuzzy in order to stay in office. You could say they are buying votes. Instead of focusing on true COVID-19 relief, we have a $1.9 trillion Christmas tree signed by President Biden full of trophies unrelated to the pandemic. While there is good in this package, taxpayers should not be forced to fund pet projects disguised as COVID relief. Let me be abundantly clear that this is not the first time we have seen this happen, and I have witnessed it over the years from both political parties.
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Missouri Congressman Jason Smith was quoted by NPR as saying, “…less than 9% of the entire spending in this bill actually goes to crushing the virus and helping distribute vaccines and putting shots in arms.” I have not done the calculations, but a quick glance at the 628-page bill sheds light on many initiatives that have seemingly zero to do with the pandemic. The package includes millions of dollars carved out for specific universities; $270 million for endowments for arts and
Executive Vice President humanities; $200 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services; and so much more I struggle tying to the pandemic. On the agriculture front, the package provides $5 billion for socially disadvantaged farmers of color, including $4 billion for the forgiveness of outstanding debt and $1 billion for outreach and grants. We can debate this at a later date, but I do not believe this has one thing to do with the pandemic. I do not see how anyone could argue otherwise. The bottom line is the relief package turned into a free-for-all with balls flying and children (politicians) laughing. The problem is we are paying for this $1.9 trillion t-ball game. In the real world of t-ball, at least kids are having fun and learning social skills. It is up to parents or guardians to fill in the blanks when it comes to winning and losing. I cannot come up with a positive when it comes to t-ball politics. They are handing out cash prizes at the expense of taxpayers and punishing the next generation of t-ball players. It is on us to demand better and elect leaders at all levels of government, regardless of political party, who are not worried about passing out trophies, but rather focused on common sense solutions to real problems.
