Reduced spending

During a budget meeting, Ken Ulman joked that “Anyone who would like to ask for less money, please feel free.”

I would like to ask for less money to be spent. In fact, most people probably want less money to be spent, or at least for spending to be flat. The majority of people who attend budget meetings like that one are those who are asking for our tax dollars to spent on some pet project of theirs that will “benefit the public”. People who want a more restrained budget are not as motivated to go out and speak as the special interests are.

My favorite quote from a citizen who testified is this one: “Every dollar spent on a library is a dollar well spent.” Strangely enough, I think that person means that every dollar of someone else’s money spent on a library is money well spent.