Yup, i went to White House.gov and submitted this note.
Someone brought it to my attention (and I began to notice more and more) that the President (as many have done before), signs a document with several pens, handing them out to those gathered around the table for the signing. It’s nice for the event to be ‘documented’ somehow, in the physical sense, but wouldn’t it be better to save a few bucks by signing the document and tucking the pen back into a pocket or desk drawer for the next time? Everyone wants to talk about saving money, but as everyone (should) know, the little things add up. The lunches that are served to committees to say thank you for your hard work or to get together to kick off a big event (like the Middle Class Task Force thank you lunch recently sponsored by the VP), are we talking cold cuts and cookies or a catered meal? The things that seem to be ‘standard’ and ‘no big deal’ as expenditures for the government really do add up. I’ve been in charge of my own budget and budgets through my work (private and public institutions) where I had to account for every penny, and justify the amount spent on items such as office supplies and round table lunches. Don’t get me wrong, I was classified as an administrative assistant, or secretary, not a comptroller, but I was held accountable nonetheless. Make it fabulous, and do it cheap! It was up to me to make sure that the money was there, and would be there for events for the rest of the year, so oftentimes a cold cut lunch or Bic pens that were $1 for 12 were the key. As a stay at home mom, I have been lucky to borrow items, buy clothes on sale, clip coupons to get discounts on things that are disposable, or reuse things (such as cloth diapers) that are a finite expense, and that in the event we don’t have more children, can be sold to recoup some of the outlay costs. Despite a considerable amount of pain, I’m also breastfeeding, saving several thousand dollars this year on formula alone (and the landfill of used containers that won’t biodegrade). Is it a pain to wash the cloth diapers instead of just dumping them in the landfill to be the problem of our children’s children? Would it be easier to plop a bottle in my baby’s mouth instead of going through pain every few hours?Yes, it’s called personal sacrifice. I grew up in hard times, and still live to some extent like they still exist, because in some part, they do. We eat leftovers, making a turkey breast into a nice evening meal plus lunches for a week, and stock for soup. My husband takes leftovers to work for lunch and I find ways to stretch them out to last longer. Chili becomes chili dogs and chili mac and a side dish to grilled cheese, if we get tired of it, it goes in the freezer for another time. I would like to know how our government is going to cut as many corners as we do, being middle class, living like lower class, trying to make ends meet far enough to purchase a home, to live the American dream. I guess what I’m saying is, can some of those lunches be trimmed or paid for (boy howdy!) by the people attending them, who can easily afford an extravagance, and can the President ‘just say no’ to handing out expensive pens to everyone in the room when a document is signed? Please make an effort to show from the top down that spending can be closely examined and trimmed, even in the highest offices.
Sincere apologies for the excessive quotation marks and parentheses, it’s hard to define emphasis in plain text.
Yours truly,
Lil Mouse
Very well written. You make some really good points. I hope someone up there listens to the ideas of those they’re supposed to be governing.