Taxes used to shovel horse manure

"Shovel-ready: Stimulus funds still being spent on manure project" by Elizabeth Harrington

As part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or stimulus act, passed over five years ago, $60,000 in taxpayer dollars is being used to haul manure from a public corral in Oregon that holds horses awaiting adoption. People who are up for the task will get paid $17 per hour plus fringe benefits. If there is a beneficial use for the manure then it will be utilized, otherwise the manure will be disposed of.

These funds allotted to the horse corral will benefit them and the workers who get paid. However, this also will contribute to the budget deficit. It could possibly have a beneficial impact if it it used as fertilizer, but the article says that it might not be.

I think that although this helps create jobs, the money could be put to much better use, or not used at all. The whole idea behind mixed economies and capitalist economies is that privatizing businesses creates a drive to work and spend money in appropriate and beneficial areas. We have also discussed the growing debt of America. The debt should be a priority, not horse manure.

Fear and Anxiety Equals More Gun Sales

In the article titled "Gun Sales Boomed in November," Smith discusses how Black Friday and Ferguson-related fears led to an increase of about 12% in gun sales from October.  1.8 million background checks were performed in November, with 175,000 occurring on Black Friday.  Fear and anxiety often lead to increases in the amount of people buying guns, which is why ironically the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary led to the biggest month of sales ever since people were scared of gun restrictions passing.  Those restrictions, however, never happened.

As more and more people continue to buy guns, it is more likely that people will push for gun restrictions, especially if more shootings occur.  However, events like the one in Ferguson could lead people to instead not want gun restrictions because they would want self defense.

There are too many guns in circulation to prevent people from getting them.  I would not be against gun legislation banning automatic weapons, but other legislation would do no good and anger many people since right to bear arms is guaranteed in the Constitution.