Growing up on the farm, my granddad only had one command: jump. Jump to miss the rattlesnake. Jump when the fence wire snapped. Jump when the old machine started shaking like it was ready to die.
He didn’t believe in spending money. We used equipment until it had nothing left to give. I didn’t always agree with him, but I followed the rule.
Government doesn’t follow that rule. Programs don’t get retired. They don’t get fixed. They just keep swallowing money long after they’ve outlived their usefulness.
Child‑care funding is the latest example. Fraud was so widespread that the federal government froze payments nationwide. Minnesota had centers billing for kids who didn’t exist. Missouri had operators stealing hundreds of thousands. When oversight collapses, the only responsible move is to shut the valve.
SNAP is no better. EBT skimming is exploding. Criminal rings are draining benefits faster than states can issue them. Dead people are still receiving food stamps. Even federal employees have been caught in the fraud.
FEMA shows the same pattern. States demand disaster money without meeting the federal thresholds. Colorado is the latest example — denied because the documentation wasn’t there. If you can’t prove the damage, you don’t get the check. That’s not politics. That’s basic accountability.
Colorado has its own failures. Insurance markets collapsing because regulators were asleep. Wildfire mitigation years behind schedule. Counties approving new spending while staring at budget shortfalls. Fee structures so outdated they were losing money. Election and emergency systems running on procedures that should’ve been replaced a decade ago.
Local governments drift too. Some towns spend time on pools, parking rules, and pet ordinances while infrastructure crumbles. Others fight over zoning because the paperwork was sloppy from the start. Not fraud — just dysfunction.
The same logic applies everywhere: You don’t fix a bleeding patient by pumping in more blood. You clamp the artery. You stop the leak. You stabilize the body before you rebuild it.
This country doesn’t have a money problem. It has an accountability problem. And until someone is willing to say “enough,” the bleeding won’t stop.
My granddad didn’t waste a nickel. This country shouldn’t either.
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