Canon Air Force base is about twenty miles from where we live. 10% of the population of Clovis, where it is located, are directly employed at the base, so it plays a major role in the area in terms of economic impact.
I was recently at an event where the base did a presentation on what's going on there and the changes they are expecting in the near future. Their current proposals have them spending $20 million in the next ten years on upgrades to the base and also to the bombing range, which is located in the town where one of my churches is. That is in addition to their normal expenditures.
Now this area also tends to be heavily conservative and anti-tax, but not a single person raised any concerns about spending that amount of money on the base. In fact, they were quite thrilled that that level of money was coming to the area.
Which proves again that people are quite happy when tax money is spent on them (and New Mexico brings in more than it sends out in federal expenditures), but its when the money is spent on other people, ones who are undeserving, that the problems arise.
How do we begin to change the conversation so that people understand that money they receive has the same consequences on the budget/deficit as the money that other people receive?
No comments:
Post a Comment