Letters to the Editor for January 4, 2023

Waste, fraud and abuse

It’s immoral to burden future generation with debt. The $1.7 trillion omnibus bill is the epitome of fiscal mismanagement and irresponsibility. Especially when a third of these funds are borrowed for non-essential boondoggles. Nonprofits must account for every dime they spend, while politicians and bureaucrats lose track of billions without consequence. Perhaps it is time to hold these “public servants” accountable for mismanagement and malfeasance. Incarceration should not be ruled out and every unaccounted-for dollar should come out of their bloated salaries, benefits and retirement packages.

Too many of our tax dollars are wasted, lost or funneled to organizations that donate to politicians and political causes in a perverse a quid pro quo arrangement. Private or quasi-governmental organizations that are not self-sufficient clearly lack public support and are therefore undeserving of our tax dollars. Case in point: Planned Parenthood receives $286 million in government grants and donates $50 million to Democrats and Democrat causes.

The Obamas live in a $16 million home. If they want a trail named after Michele, they should fund its construction. If Nancy Pelosi wants a government building named after her, she should pay for the naming rights just like corporate sponsors of sporting venues.

We are $31 trillion in debt. Spending money we don’t have is insanity. This debt will be repaid by future generations, either through bankruptcy or a lowered standard of living.

Mike Rodgick

Carson City

What is the true cost of the unsecured southern border?

Jim Hartman’s opinion piece failed to address the dollars and cents in the costs associated with the unsecured southern border. The CDC reports that 107,375 died from fentanyl poisoning in 2021. What was the economic impact of these overdoses? This impacts the United States in both human tragedy and productivity costs.

In 2017 the Federation for Immigration Reform research report estimated that the annual cost to the American taxpayer for illegals was nearly $116 billion. Without a legal Individual Tax Identification Number, illegals contributed only $19 billion to the federal and state tax coffers. How much was provided in refund checks/tax credits to those illegals? A 2017 estimate of total state and local expenditures was $89 billion for maintaining these illegals.

Most people do not realize the impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Plyler vs. Doe and the subsequent burden to all school districts. These are 2017 estimates; what will be the annual cost in 2023? While some state that these immigrants are of a worker shortage, the United States has 7 million men (18-54) who are not working. What would have been the impact on our economy if those men were working at a fair market value for their labor? It seems like the $21 billion authorized for the wall under USC Title 10 would have been a better bargain for the taxpayer.

Drew Runde

Carson City