From now through the presidential election of 2012, America will be having an important debate between those who want to continue to spend money we don’t have and those who want to reduce the spending that has brought us to the edge of economic disaster. Of primary concern will be issues regarding the size and scope of our federal government and a reminder that our Constitution limits its power. While those on the left continue to ignore the fact that we have a Constitution that limits the power and scope of the federal government, those on the right continue to remind them of those limitations.

The first paragraph of Ben Utley’s (Chairman Of The Macon County Democratic Party) recent letter to the editor regarding raising the debt and the scope of the federal government speaks volumes about the mindset of those on the left.

The North Carolina Senate released a state budget this week that makes government live within its means and puts more money in the pockets of taxpayers, while protecting essential public services.

Among others, our budget makes three responsible, longoverdue changes:

First, it reforms North Carolina’s broken education system. An educated workforce is vital to our state’s future.

The fact that Jim Davis refers to the radical budget being proposed down in Raleigh as the state “living within its means” is a joke. The farce of this proposal is the false notion that businesses are being wildly burdened and that our private sector suffers.

Unmentioned is N.C. remaining as the “No. 2 Best State for Business” awarded by 500 CEOs in Chief Executive Magazine. How is our great state outdoing the vast majority of other states, if the government is “on the back” of jobcreating businesses? Thanks to North Carolina’s educated workforce N.C. has shifted from manufacturing to more knowledge-based jobs such as banks, high-tech endeavors and pharmaceuticals.

I attended the recent public hearing on the Comprehensive Plan and came away confused. First, according to the Division Engineer who manages Division 14 of the NCDOT, of which Macon is a part, all this hoopla about requiring a Comprehensive Plan or we’ll be cut off from road projects is not accurate. Yet it seems that the county administration is under the impression that this is the case.

Aside from the confusion over why the plan is necessary, I’m trying to understand its purpose, which, among other things, is ostensibly to create an environment that attracts jobs. Yet, there are many provisions and recommendations that make home construction more difficult and more expensive.