Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?

There aren't very many occasions where the vote of a city council can impact the national debt, but tonight (November 10, 2015) was one of those nights.  Sadly, the American Fork City Council chose to potentially add $200,000.00 to the national debt.

The issue is Community Development Block Grants (CDBG).  This is where the federal government takes money from you and I, sends it to Washington, and then sends some of it back to local governments.  The problem is, this isn't what our federal government was formed to do. 

Nowhere in the Constitution is the federal government given the Constitutional authority to fund  Community Development Block Grants.  There is no Article 1 Section 8 grant of Constitutional authority for HUD or CDBG's. 

Furthermore, the federal government currently doesn't have the money to do so either.  Our Federal government is 18 trillion dollars in debt, and runs a large budget deficit every year.  Indeed some within the government itself are warning that the out of control federal debt is THE biggest threat to our future national security.

I voted against CDBG tonight.  I voted to not add to our national debt. 

What if the American Fork City Council had joined me in voting against CDBG?  And what if our sister communities did the same?  And what if cities in other states followed suit?  We would be keeping our oath of office to defend the Constitution that way. 

We would also then be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.