Jane Chastain : Politically Direct

This is the time to watch your representatives in Washington. If you will pay attention to these people for the remaining weeks this year, you could save your country billions of dollars and knock thousands off your tax bill for years to come.

The new fiscal year began on October 1 and the new Democrat-led Congress is just now getting around to passing the 12 appropriations bills that make up the federal budget.

Congress traditionally is late with this essential task, but this is its worst performance in the last twenty years. The biggest problem is all the rhetoric that was expended by Democrats on how they were going to get a handle on runaway spending — especially those wasteful pork barrel projects that ballooned during the last12 years under Republican rule. All that hot air is now hitting the fan and the blowback has greedy politicians of both political stripes running for cover. Read the rest of this entry »

Would you get in the car and drive down the street blindfolded? Would you ski down a hill with your eyes closed? Would you set off on a journey without knowing where your destination was located? Would you begin building a house without estimating the cost? Would you send your son or daughter off to the mall with a blank check?

That would be crazy.

This week, the president gave us his budget for the nation and few Americans plan to read it.

This is equally crazy. Read the rest of this entry »