Ladies and Gentlemen–Watch your wallets
Jan 21st, 2009 by David Anderson
Lt. Governor Matt Denn gave a clarion call of sacrifice today during his address. That is usually Democrat code for a legal mugging is coming. Especially when combined with his gratuitous blasting of Ronald Reagan. I found it unsettling at best. Asking if you are better off is not corrosive. It is basic. Is government really working? Is what we are doing giving us results?
I understand that people expecting to control their own destiny, money, families, and lives would be offensive and corrosive to the values of the left wing. This budget crisis should call us back to rugged individualism since we realize that government cannot provide all things to us. Instead, the honorable Matt Denn wants us to sacrifice what we have left for his collective. If we have other ideas, we are corrosive.
If that doesn’t breath new life into the Delaware GOP then what will?
David, you are way off base with your inflammatory language which puts more into Matt Denn’s mouth than he put into it himself.
We are going to have to sacrifice, face it, because of the neglect of both the Minner adminstration and the Bush administration. Our $600 million budget shortfall is so big to be almost beyond belief; but there it is, smacking us in the face!
Here is what Governor Jack Markell said yesterday:
“And unlike the federal government, Delaware, by law, must balance its budget every year. So, from today to the end of this fiscal year, in June, we must find a way to cut our spending by 100 million dollars. Simultaneously, we must create and pass a budget for the next fiscal year that eliminates another 600 million dollars – nearly 20 percent of our entire state budget.
We all know this is an enormous budgetary shock for a small state to absorb.
The state is in the position of millions of American families today whose bills continue to climb but whose income has fallen. How do families cope? They start, of course, by eliminating unneeded expenses – turning the thermostat down, postponing big purchases, cancelling vacations.
We will do what families do: trim every ounce of fat from our budget. Beginning this very afternoon, we will launch a statewide performance audit to uncover and eliminate unnecessary expenditures throughout this government.
I believe there are millions of dollars of waste and inefficiency to eliminate from government. We will find it.
However, given the magnitude of our financial crisis, cutting waste will not be enough. Like the struggling American families who have cut and cut and still come up short, we will have to make further, painful sacrifices.
That means cutting back on many government functions and services – even some that we all agree are needed. This will not be easy. It will not be painless. But we will do it. And we will prevail. “
If you were Jack Markell, what else would you do?
In a sense this is on our shoulders, because we put these administrations in power.
Then why, Dave, did David focus on the Denn speech, which he deems negative, instead of the Markell speech, which you deem positive, with which I agree. I call it rabble-rousing! After all, Markell is our Governor/leader/decider.
I agree that these are troubled times. I think that the solutions we choose are as important as the fact that we must make choices. Lt. Gov. Denn is a good family man. I am not attacking him.
I am being critical of what he said. If it were an off the cuff response in an interview, I might have let it pass. This was not. It was the kick off speech of his term. Every word should have been planned. For that reason I have to take him seriously especially when his statements previously back this up. The man is part of the left wing of the Democrat party. He went out of his way to make a harsh partisan attack against RR and those of us who hold his values. That can not pass without an answer. Sorry if that bothers anyone.
Redistribute my work ethic, not my wages.
I caught that. Liberty and freedom are corrosive? Personal responsibility is corrosive? Yikes. Are we not supposed to question our government’s effectiveness?
Are you reporting that as Denn’s actual comments? Is that what you are going with?
“Lt. Governor Matt Denn gave a clarion call of sacrifice today during his address.”
Why, were we attacked by Japan again? We’ve made enough sacrifices under Minner & Bush! Beside, how much lower can I turn my heat down or keep driving a 14 year old car?