Recently, when someone has noted the huge campaign expenditures this year, I have quipped, "Hey, don't knock campaign spending, it's probably keeping the economy going."
Then I read these two bits in a weekly digest called THE WEEK:
P. 20
"The 2008 presidental campaign and congressional races cost an estimated $5.3 billion, shattering all previous records, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. While that's a lot of money, it's less than the $6 billion Americans spent this year on Halloween candy, costumes, and decorations." Report from USA Today.
YIPES, do we really spend that much on Halloween!!! Does that include the people who brought hot dogs and hot chocolate at our Church stand during the Emmaus Halloween Parade? And the five dollar donation I gave to the Emmaus Halloween Parade Committee?
I look at page 21...and there in the lower left corner is "Poll Watch" and this item:
+70 % of Americans think too much money was spent on the 2008 presiential election.
+57 % said they support campaign spending limits while
+ 38 % said candidates should be allowed to spend as much as they can raise.
I'm starting to think "Spend, Baby, Spend."
But not really....
Candy corn and campaign buttons are not my idea of the abundant life.
Faced with very real needs of people all around us...the homeless and hungry...and we don't even know what we spend and what it means.
Jesus says,
"Where your treasure is there your heart will be."
Maybe one of the strands to tease out of this granny knot which is the global economy is to finally realize how each one of us handles our money. What decisions are we making? What is the lost opportunity cost of those decisions?
Labels: Campaign spending, Halloween
