Apparently Congressman Jason Chaffetz from Utah takes offense to our Fish Lake Trail. He was on the Glenn Beck radio program last week talking about wasteful spending, and included thei trail in that category. Here’s a link to the transcript. The reference to the Fish Lake Trail is about halfway down.
So what do you think folks? Chaffetz’s argument is that these are worthy causes, but the American people are spending too much on taxes and projects like this should be paid for by someone else. Would you prefer to have facilities like the Fish Lake Trail or the money in your own pocket? And you don’t have to be PC here, but no swearing please.
I want mah fish lake trail.
I'm so glad it's finally getting closer to being completed, especially that essential bit over the freeway and all of that stuff.
If we didn't spend our money on "pointless" stuff, we wouldn't have many a public monument, all of our official buildings finished in marble and granite, fancy landscaping, parks, campgrounds, and a whole heck of a lot of OTHER public outdoor recreation things like the trail.
I won't even go into how idiotic and annoying I find Glenn Beck and his show to be.
Thanks Rachel, you took the words right out of my mouth. Only I'm not allowed to say them because I'm a government employee.
We'd probably all have a lot of cool toys and gadgets if we didn't spend money on taxes for things like the Fish Lake Trail, etc. but we'd also die at the age of 40 from high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and other illnesses from never going outside or getting any exercise.
P.S. Did you get a job or lose your internet connection for a while or something? I was starting to worry that maybe it was something I said…
WOW! I could probably list 100 things we spend tax money on that get less bang for the buck than a trail. Trails are a gift we give to ourselves and the generations to come. When we continue to invest in these, over time, the overall quality of life in our areas increases significantly. When an area becomes more attractive, especially if the cost of living is less relative to other areas it attracts business, because they know quality employees will want to live there. This spurs economic growth and more tax base to build roads and more trails.
I agree spending money on trails like the Fish Lake Trail is a worthwhile use for our taxes. Look at how many improvements were done by the CCCs in the 1930s that still survive today.
Good point about the CCC Charles. Every once in a while someone will point out something to me that was done as a CCC project and I'm always surprised at the sheer number and the variety of things that were constructed by the CCC. I have an old cabin that has an outhouse that was built by the CCC. Not on the level of the Fish Lake Trail or the Lookout House at the top of Mt. Spokane but it's kind of cool. Point being, someone will look back someday and say, "This is really cool. I'm glad they set this land aside while they still had it."
If Congressman Chaffetz was truly concerned about being trillions in debt, I think he'd also say something about the hundreds of billions we're spending on war.
Earmarks are not the best way of doing business but the amount spent on them is miniscule compared to the Dept of Defense budget.
And who cares what Glenn Beck has to say?
Is it just me, or does it kind of make Congressman Chaffetz look less credible that he took his complaint to the Glenn Beck show instead of other channels?