Monday Morning Musings

I am really excited about an interview that Joanne Troppello did with me. Her site is very professional, and we had a good discussion about how some of my stories came to be. If you would like to read the interview and enter to win a copy of Open Season, here is the link:  tiny.cc/b35dj     Just leave a comment and I will draw a winner on Friday.   Now to our regularly scheduled program....        
  

It was interesting to read about four organizations who worked together to identify about $380 billion in federal spending that wastes money and harms the environment. The report, Green Scissors 2011, was recently released and I hope our government representatives are paying attention. The editorial in The Dallas Morning News identified these organizations as "left-leaning" or "right-leaning", but I think we do a disservice to people by labeling them. I would just rather name them in order: Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen, Taxpayers for Common Sense and The Heartland Institute.

Most of this waste is in the form of government subsidies for fossil fuel, nuclear, alternative energy, agricultural, transportation programs and projects, land and water subsidies. A full report can be found on the Green Scissors website, as well as other information about the organizations involved in this effort.

The main focus of Green Scissors is to get the government to focus on what is good for the people and the environment; not what is good for lobbyists. This was taken from their website:  The president and Congress must get tough with the special interest groups that jeopardize our natural resources and waste our valuable tax dollars. It will require tackling some of the richest and most powerful corporations in the country. Yet this is what is needed if we are going to protect the environment, regain fiscal and environmental responsibility and get our spending back on track.

Currently, Green Scissors is challenging presidential candidates to respond to the latest report and say how they plan to deal with special interests groups should they be elected. It will be interesting to see if any of them actually step up.

I would vote for any woman or man who had the courage to take back our government from the control of lobbyists. What this report and this effort is trying to do is not all that different from what Occupy Wallstreet is all about. Then common man has lost out to the greed and power of a select few. That is not the standards that America was formed on.