A couple of stories caught my attention recently. The most recent was this story in the Denver Post. It's a stunner. 43 kids have died in the past five years after entering Colorado's Child Welfare Program. Which at best comes across as an oxymoron. It's tragic.
Authorities blame caseloads and budget cuts. I think it would be fair to say that bureaucracy plays a role too. But 43 kids is 43 kids too much.
Then there's Colorado's Jefferson County. School music and arts programs are on the chopping block. So are the teacher positions involved. High School Band was the best experience for me in school. I learned much more than music. Discipline, that working hard brings rewards, team work pays off and best of all, making lifetime friends. These programs are as important as math and science.
Again, the blame is being laid at budget cuts. A fair enough argument in these tough economic times. I've attended budget briefings with respected economists from schools like DU. While revenue is expected to trend upwards in the next 10-15 years, expense projections exceed that revenue. We're spending more than we're taking in, not only in Colorado but at the Federal level as well.
Here are a couple of examples of where we might save some money, or avoid wasting it in the first place.
There's an effort, however well-intentioned, to raise money to fix up the dome at the State Capitol here in Denver. It will cost millions of dollars. I totally understand that we have to do something but maybe slapping on a coast of that sealer stuff used in truck beds might suffice at last for now, and while ugly looking, serve as a reminder that we face tough decisions moving forward. A great visual as we say.
Then there's an effort to create an exploratory committee to bring the 2022 Winter Games to Colorado. Before they have another meeting, they should ask the folks in Vancouver and British Columbia how the games put them deep in debt. They're having to cut all sorts of services, including education to pay for the "honor" of hosting the games.
Those behind the effort claim every effort will be made to raise the billion(s) needed "privately." Yeah, right. The other problem is the only way you could get to the alpine events would be on I-70.
Oops.
So here we are, at a crossroads of sorts. A golden dome or the lives of innocent children. Education or the Olympics which most of us couldn't afford to attend in the first place. It sounds like a simplistic argument but that's fine. When all else fails, look at the facts.
Nationally the debt is well north of $15 Trillion and rising by the second. Our government wants to raise it another $1.5 Trillion. Some time ago President Obama tasked retired Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson and former Clinton Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles to form a debt reduction commission. They came up with a solution and then it was promptly stuck in a drawer. This medicine has so sugar to make it go down, because we can't afford the sugar.
When you have kids dying in the care of "child welfare" agencies or shutting down music and arts programs, while at the same time thinking about the Olympics or golden domes you just make an already bad situation, worse.
To quote Mike Ditka, "Stop it!"
Brian Olson
Owner/Consultant
Conversation Starters Public Relations
Authorities blame caseloads and budget cuts. I think it would be fair to say that bureaucracy plays a role too. But 43 kids is 43 kids too much.
Then there's Colorado's Jefferson County. School music and arts programs are on the chopping block. So are the teacher positions involved. High School Band was the best experience for me in school. I learned much more than music. Discipline, that working hard brings rewards, team work pays off and best of all, making lifetime friends. These programs are as important as math and science.
Again, the blame is being laid at budget cuts. A fair enough argument in these tough economic times. I've attended budget briefings with respected economists from schools like DU. While revenue is expected to trend upwards in the next 10-15 years, expense projections exceed that revenue. We're spending more than we're taking in, not only in Colorado but at the Federal level as well.
Here are a couple of examples of where we might save some money, or avoid wasting it in the first place.
There's an effort, however well-intentioned, to raise money to fix up the dome at the State Capitol here in Denver. It will cost millions of dollars. I totally understand that we have to do something but maybe slapping on a coast of that sealer stuff used in truck beds might suffice at last for now, and while ugly looking, serve as a reminder that we face tough decisions moving forward. A great visual as we say.
Then there's an effort to create an exploratory committee to bring the 2022 Winter Games to Colorado. Before they have another meeting, they should ask the folks in Vancouver and British Columbia how the games put them deep in debt. They're having to cut all sorts of services, including education to pay for the "honor" of hosting the games.
Those behind the effort claim every effort will be made to raise the billion(s) needed "privately." Yeah, right. The other problem is the only way you could get to the alpine events would be on I-70.
Oops.
So here we are, at a crossroads of sorts. A golden dome or the lives of innocent children. Education or the Olympics which most of us couldn't afford to attend in the first place. It sounds like a simplistic argument but that's fine. When all else fails, look at the facts.
Nationally the debt is well north of $15 Trillion and rising by the second. Our government wants to raise it another $1.5 Trillion. Some time ago President Obama tasked retired Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson and former Clinton Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles to form a debt reduction commission. They came up with a solution and then it was promptly stuck in a drawer. This medicine has so sugar to make it go down, because we can't afford the sugar.
When you have kids dying in the care of "child welfare" agencies or shutting down music and arts programs, while at the same time thinking about the Olympics or golden domes you just make an already bad situation, worse.
To quote Mike Ditka, "Stop it!"
Brian Olson
Owner/Consultant
Conversation Starters Public Relations
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