Should the public trust or be suspicious of the government?

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The first reason why the American public should not trust government is that government is unable to curb spending. It is interesting that if individuals overspend or don't meet financial obligations they are penalized. Consider the recent home foreclosures that have spanned the country. Thousands of individual citizens lost their homes not necessarily out of poor spending habits but simply because they didn't have the money to make the payments. The government, of course, has the ability to simply print more money when they are short of cash. This has the result of raising inflation and lowering the value of the dollar. It also increases the national debt. Americans should not trust government because members of government do not have the fortitude to cut spending so that spending is less than income.

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The second reason why Americans should not trust government is closely tied to the first. Not only does government spend more money than it has to spend, it wastes a significant amount of the money it spends. It wouldn't be the end of the world if government occasionally spent more than it received as long as the money spent was spent on valuable and important projects. However, the sad truth is that the government wastes a significant amount of the money it spends. This is the logical outcome when you allow individuals to spend someone else's money. Consider the following examples. A fund called the International Fund for Government received over $19 million for developing pony treks and golf courses. The Pentagon and CIA spent over $11 million on psychics who might be able to offer insight into national emergencies or national security issues. The Commerce Department gave $440,000 for disaster relief to Colorado ski slopes due to an inadequate amount of snowfall. These are just a few of the ways that government has chosen to waste your hard earned ...