The buck stops nowhere
Reading the Why Did All the Fiscal Hawks Go Extinct? published article in the Wall Street Journal from my study in South Philadelphia, I couldn’t help but wonder: Does anyone in Washington actually intend to pay down our national debt?
We have surpassed $40 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office projects annual deficits reaching $3.1 trillion by 2036. Even if inflation cools and spending slows, we are still borrowing money we have no serious plan to repay.
Harry Truman famously kept a sign on his desk reading, “The Buck Stops Here.” Today, the buck doesn’t stop anywhere. It gets borrowed, spent, extended and passed along to the next generation.
I support President Trump’s efforts to combat government fraud, but they should be only the beginning. Imagine every state, county and municipality conducting a serious examination of fraud, waste and abuse. How much taxpayer money might we discover has been squandered?
Finding waste won’t erase $40 trillion in debt. But surely we can start by asking where the money goes and who is accountable for spending it.
Fiscal responsibility shouldn’t depend on which party occupies the White House.
John P. Zadzura
Looking forward to new animal shelter
As a lover of all kinds of family pets, it was very heartwarming to read the report by Mark Zimmaro on the acquisition of new space to rescue animals (“PAWS plans $15M animal shelter on Oregon Avenue,” Nov. 4).
The best part of this story is how the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society was determined to acquire this new location on Oregon Avenue in order to provide better care for rescued animals. PAWS operates as the city’s largest rescue partner. They work together to save homeless and at-risk pets.
As Zimmaro reports, the expanded facility will supply all kinds of services including surgery and other lifesaving care. How blessed are the residents of South Philly to have a future place, not only to take their sick or injured pets, but to adopt healthy animals from its shelter.
So, many thanks to the South Philly Review, and especially reporter Mark Zimmaro, for giving us such an informative article on this planned new animal shelter. And of course many thanks to PAWS for the heroic work they do to save animal lives.
Gloria C. Endres
