CDBG grants and the Tenth Amendment
Why are the taxpayers of the other 49 states subsidizing local government and private charities in Bloomington, Indiana? If local government is going to be distributing money, shouldn't it be from the local tax base?
Last night, the Bloomington City Council voted to distribute a pot of money from the federal government to various social service agencies as well as its own Housing and Neighborhood Development department within city government. But before we can decide whether any of these allocations were a good idea, a more foundational question should be asked: Why have this program at all?
Do we really need to be sending billions of dollars to local and state governments when we are running incredibly high budget deficits? The Obama Administration's historical tables report the budget deficits for 2012, 2013 and 2014 (the last two years being estimated) were as follows:
$1,086,963,000,000
$972,902,000,000
$744,189,000,000
We simply do not have the money to spend on anything other than essential programs. More importantly, there is no specific authorization for programs like this in the Constitution, so if we are serious about the rule of law (which we are not) a program like this would not be permitted under the Tenth Amendment.
This is one program that needs to be abolished. If local governments around the nation want to continue disbursing money like this, let them do it from their own local tax base.
The CDBG funds were distributed as follows:
Social Service Funding
Community Kitchen -- $25,000
Hoosier Hills Food Bank -- $25,000
Monroe County United Ministries – Child Care -- $24,500
Middle Way House – Emergency Services -- $25,000
Stepping Stones -- $25,000
Physical Improvement Funding
Bloomington Housing Authority Crestmont Interior Renovations -- $50,000
HAND Home Modification for Accessible Living -- $20,000
MCUM Energy efficiency & roof replacement -- $64,708
LifeDesigns Replacement of window units -- $59,000
Amethyst House Renovation of 416 W. 4th -- $20,000
Public Works Rockport Road Reconstruction -- $392,991
HAND Stormwater Improvements -- $50,000
Administration of Housing and Neighborhood Development Department -- $173,448