On a drizzly, dark day this past Sunday with a rare couple of hours to kill, I decided to take in coverage of the race for the Republican primary in Florida on CNN. While watching clips of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich speaking and glad handling their way through the crowds, I just had to roll my eyes and shake my head at the sheer absurdity of some of the proposals they were making.
You’ve probably heard them all by now. Moon colonies. A new federal program to deport all illegal immigrants. Fifteen percent tax rates. A balanced federal budget in 10 years. And on and on.
OK, I love low taxes and balanced budgets as much as the next guy. But I just can’t help but laugh out loud when politicians, including President Obama, make promises they have no hope of making good on.
I mean really, don’t they know that we understand the costs associated with such grandiose plans? What turnip truck do they think we all just fell off?
Imagine, if you will, our local, county and state governments, ports and school districts operating the way the federal government does. Imagine if they all could spend unlimited money on their every need and not sweat the small details — like where the money might come from.