- #36
turbo
Gold Member
- 3,165
- 56
That's where the rubber hits the road. At some point, we need to stop being the world's policeman, IMO, and provide for our own defense. Much of the foreign-aid we funnel to allies is in the form of military armament, and that should stop, too.JonF said:I was just wondering where and how those in this thread purpose on cutting from the budget, or increasing revenue?
Slash farm subsidies that take farmland out of food production and that subsidize the production of ethanol that costs more to make than it is worth, and is contaminating our fuel supplies so that it is difficult to maintain small-engines that are used only seasonally, like outboard motors, wood-splitter, chain-saws, etc. I have a friend who is a small-engine specialist and much of his business is now driven by decomposing fuel, rotted fuel lines, clogged fuel filters, etc. He used to do mostly rebuilds, now his shop is jammed up with nickel and dime repairs caused by crappy fuel. Can't get pure gasoline anymore, and many older engines don't perform properly on anything but...
These are not just drop-in-the-bucket fixes, but can have a real stimulative effect that can provide multipliers. Stop taxing me to give money to Agri-giants that make ethanol, and then I can get decent fuel that lasts for a while in storage, and I don't have to pay the extra "tax" of buying fuel-stabilizers or paying for unnecessary repairs. I hadn't used my chain saw in a couple of years and when I needed it recently, the fuel line had collapsed and stuck together due to crappy fuel. Never happened before in 30+ years.
Luckily, my tractor was designed to run on ultra-low-sulfur diesel, because that's the only stuff you can buy around here these days. Lots of government regulations and mandates have costs that impact businesses all over. Imagine being a commercial fisherman and having to pay for hundreds of gallons of diesel a week, AND having to cope with the reality that you can only get ultra-low-sulfur diesel at the docks because there aren't any refineries in Maine. Oops! Lower lubricity means more frequent rebuilds and resultant down-time and loss of income? Too bad to be you.