Burdening successful people is immoral

As a person of faith, I believe the moral test of any society is how well it treats its military and its hardworking, most productive citizens. Without soldiers, sailors, police, and without the motivated and industrious citizens in our society, America would fail. Through them everything else is taken care of.

Our federal budget should reflect values and priorities that keep our military and law enforcement strong, and allow hardworking Americans to live without heavy tax burden so that our businesses and economy can flourish. Legislators should consider how their actions will impact these people first.

Congress should oppose any budget proposal that further decreases military spending. Let us all remember that the defense budget was already cut by $100 billion in the 1990s, which was called the “peace dividend.” This left the U.S. Army stretched thin during the difficult years in Iraq, and without a strategic reserve. It is time to cut bloated and wasteful social programs instead.

Our deficit is a moral issue, as it is immoral to continuously place the cost of larger and newer social programs, without regard for the national debt and tax burden onto its citizens. The right thing to do is what President Obama stated: start living within our means. Start cutting social programs across the board back to affordable levels, and stop punishing the successful with immoral levels of taxation.

Government should stay out of our lives as much as possible, require the support of only basic safety nets, but allow the successful to live without the oppression of forced collectivism and socialism.

Harold Knudsen

Arlington Heights