An anecdote

I have been negligent to write over the past two weeks, thank the Lord I finally have returned to work in my field of expertise, commercial construction plumbing. I just want to offer an anecdotal suggestion that speaks to the debt ceiling debate in Washington.

Three years a go I finished up at a pharmaceutical job in Frederick Md. A great job that I was able to ride from the underground to start up; when it ended all the talk was that a huge job at Ft. Dietrich was about to start and that with a little luck we could jump right from one to the other. Three years later that job is finally under way with some seriousness but is still subject to delays and controversies. Ft Dietrich is where the army does much of its research into a lot of ugly stuff (a Ft Dietrich scientist was suspected in the anthrax mailings following 9/11) and naturally has a somewhat uneasy relation with the residents of Frederick. Still it is a vital facility and defense is a constitutional role of government so of course it takes forever to do any thing.

With Ft Dietrich on hold I tried to get on to a supermarket job but that fell through in a permit dispute, so then came a high school, one of the largest in the state of West Virginia and a local job to boot, but again delay delay delay. Again most would agree that education is a legitimate function of government and this high school is needed but trying to get it built is problematic even if the state has the money.

So for nearly three years I’ve gotten by on small jobs and side work. I prayerfully refused to continue on Federal extended unemployment as I would have been hypocritical to oppose extending those benefits for God knows how long and then to jump on them when I needed them. One of those small jobs was at the NCTC, (national conservation training center) which sits on the old Hendricks Farm about 2 miles from where I grew up. There many thousands of your tax dollars went to replace c-fold paper towel dispensers with environmentally friendly rolled ones and install water conserving faucets and flush meters on toilets and urinals. Thank goodness the government isn’t broke or anything. When you hear of green jobs created remember 4 guys working for 6 weeks is as good as it gets. Meanwhile in the Robert C Byrd auditorium of the same facility severe water damage from a burst pipe goes unfixed as it has no funding.

Finally though Macy’s decided to build a distribution center in our area, they acquired the property, cleared the property and now we are working 6 10 hour days just to get done ahead of the iron workers. My helper and I laid 600 ft of 8 inch pipe in 2 days and boy did if feel great! I come home tired hot and dirty not to mention a little scraped up and I love it! When this job is done, Macy’s will employ over a thousand people full time and another 500 or so seasonally. Not 4 people for 6 weeks like the stimulus, and it will add to the economy not suck treasure out of it.

What has this to do with the debt ceiling? Simply this: the roll and scope of government is too big and is wrought with economic killing inefficiencies in the end the talk of 1.2 trillion in cuts is cosmetic as in DC a cut is really just a slow down in the rate of growth. I don’t believe we can settle for any thing that doesn’t change the system of spending fundamentally. Government spending can’t grow at 9% a year forever; government has to be placed in the background of life not the fore front. Right now if the debt ceiling is not raised, would it be so bad? If government could only do its fundamental needs but had to lay off some EPA officials who are trying to devastate the coal industry in WV what would the harm be? I am willing to support any plan that requires a balanced budget and willing to reject any plan that does not and I will urge m representatives to do the same. We conservatives are on the cusp of victory but we can’t put our trust in Boehner’s and McConnell’s chamberlinesque negotiating skills, its up to us the American people the conservatives, the tea party patriots to save our country and its future and we will not be deterred.   Let us all pray for our country, that it can hold out for one more election, than we will have our turn to finish what we started last November.

Until next time keep on the firing line.