Letters to the editor Dec. 31

Welfare program

Our county commissioners have been under a lot of public pressure to accept money that could be used to help people who would otherwise not be able to attain home ownership. While it may seem like a slam dunk decision, especially when you hear the argument that the money will go to another county if we don’t accept it, I think it’s totally illogical.

If I understand it correctly, the recipients of this program will have their ROI capped to an amount much lower than market rate future capital gains. So why would they ever sell their homes? They’d be in no better position to buy another house (I’m assuming the cost of housing will continue to increase) than they currently are. Furthermore, what motivation would they have to make home improvements, or even maintain it, knowing that the ROI will be almost nothing?

How is it really any different than rent controlled housing or the “the projects”? Sure, they’ll own the house, but they won’t improve their finances by doing so. As an aside, how is it different than forcing other taxpayers to pay their student loans, or their medical care, or their kids’ school lunches? Why is no one personally responsible for themselves these days? That’s another letter for another day.

Why do people who call themselves fiscally conservative support this program, which is just welfare? Why do they think it’s the government’s responsibility to come up with a so-called solution to the housing crunch? To be fair, the government probably caused the housing crisis, what with its insane spending and high taxes supporting its social agenda, along with the incredible damage it did to our economy by its ineffective and over-reaching handling of the Covid outbreak. 

Does that give the government credibility to “fix” the housing problem? Is the forced taking from one group of people to give to another a real solution? Did helping people get into housing that they couldn’t afford work well back in 2005 and 2006? Will people never learn? 

At this point you’re saying that if I don’t have any kind of solution, then I’m not helping anybody.

Here’s the solution: every government at every level should turn down federal government largesse. Every county and city government should turn down money from the state. Then the state and federal governments should lower our taxes, leaving us more money; money that could be used to buy houses. Our state and federal governments should tax only enough money to pay for infrastructure, defense and the truly needy. As it stands, the majority of our tax dollars goes to social programs, which may help some folks subsist, but it keeps everybody from thriving.

I challenge our county commissioners, along with our state legislators, to stop spending our money, no matter which government agency took it from us. 

Unfortunately, there does not seem to be the political willpower on either side of the legislative aisle to stop the insanity.

— Doug Adams, Whitefish