I can tell you where it isn’t…our children. They are the future of America but that doesn’t seem to mean much to our government when you consider how they spend our money. As you may know, feeding hungry children is pretty near and dear to our hearts at Legacy Wealth Management. For the last seven years, the Kids Aid Backpack program founded by Mike has become like a second job to all of us here. One we wish was not needed, but feel blessed to do. For that reason it’s especially frustrating to hear that only 2% of the projected increase in federal spending over the next decade will be on programs benefiting children.
That 2% will go towards healthcare for children, particularly Medicaid. At the same time money spent on other support for children, like nutrition and education will go down. This is due in large part to forced budget cuts as a result of the Budget Control Act. You may remember the Budget Control Act was signed into law by President Obama on August 2, 2011, ending the U.S. debt ceiling crisis that threatened to shut down the government. (This would be repeated again a few years later. Something about if you fail to learn from history you’ll be forced to re-live it). The debt ceiling was raised but the legislation required budget cuts that Congress was tasked to make. It came with an incentive to act. If Congress failed to come up with the cuts, it would trigger mandatory across-the-board cuts. Guess what? They didn’t get the job done, thus the cuts became law.
So here we are. By 2017, unless something changes, Washington will spend more money on interest on our debt than on our children. In doing so we risk not only the well-being of our children, but the well-being of our nation.
Linda Eden is a Registered Principal offering securities through Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisor Representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Legacy Wealth Management, LLC and Cambridge are not affiliated. Cambridge does not offer tax advice.
Copyright ©2014 Linda Eden. All Rights reserved. Commercial copying, duplication or reproduction is prohibited.
