Government has lost my trust
I need a new weather app. I’ve long depended on the National Atmospheric Oceanic Administration (NOAA), knowing that some of the best scientific minds are at work there, providing their best guesses as to what will happen tomorrow in my area. But NOOA is now an “Unnecessary” government agency.
Much feels different these days. I used to get my weather fix every morning on Public Radio, but since they lost their federal funding, they’ve had to stop providing a great many of the things we enjoyed just to stay on the air.
We’ve recently been told that the IRS will require electronic payments for all income taxes by April of this year. I suppose that will save money, but it’s going to be difficult for folks who don’t normally have access to electronic funds transfer accounts. We have to wonder if paying electronically will save enough to compensate for all the budget cuts the IRS has suffered over the past year, as well as the number of tax specialists who have either been fired or are quitting jobs that have basically become meaningless.
An unusual number of extreme weather events, such as forest fires and record-breaking floods, have been occurring recently. Our government used to help folks get back on their feet again. They don’t do that anymore. Apparently that’s become a responsibility of the state in which the event occurred—but the states don’t have anywhere near enough money to meet that need.
I never thought I would live at a time when we needed to stop and question what our government is telling us, but I believe that time has come. The president of the United States cheerfully admitted last week that he likes to keep everyone guessing about what he’s going to do next. That way, he’s always the one in control.
At what point in our democracy did our government become “they” and not “we?” What outrage is headed for us next? Do we still care enough to ask questions and demand answers? Let’s hope so; our future depends on it.