entitlement; yours for the asking
The problem is not that there is less money or fewer programs available today than was the case in the past; in fact, the reverse may well be true. Individual programs come and go, of course, but -- one way or another -- a goodly portion of our tax dollars -- yours and mine -- continues to be spent on domestic programs of the type we inform you about. The problem is that, despite what you might expect, and for a variety of reasons (some perhaps at least a bit more valid than others), these programs are not widely advertised. Here are some of those reasons. One major one is that if the government actually decided to advertise all of their programs through the mass media, it would have to obtain competitive bidding. The government would have to become even more bureaucratic (if that's possible) to the extent that it would have to examine all the proposals submitted from the advertising world with the proverbial fine-tooth comb to unearth the lowest bid in each case. This would especially be necessary today, in the wake of numerous real or alleged cases of moral or financial malfeasance in office, there seems to be a renewed clamor -- louder than usual -- for ethics in government. It is even likely in some instances that the cost of selecting an advertising medium (man hours, paper work, etc.) might be more than that of the actual commercial or advertisement decided upon. Also, consider this: If each government office or agency decided to aggressively advertise through the media every program it has available, our radios, television sets, newspaper and magazines would be flooded with government paid advertisements and there would probably be charges that the federal government was subsidizing the media. It is better for them to use our services, and services like ours. There are, of course, other reasons as well why many of these entitlement programs are not as widely known as they should be. Federal workers tend to have a bit more job security than do many of us and, as a result, may sometimes be less than industrious at the work place. We're speaking here not about entry-level support people, most of whom are loyal, dedicated and hard working, but about career bureaucrats in the agencies charged with administering the specific programs. One suspects there may be method in their madness (procastination); they almost certainly realize that the more people who find out what they have coming, the more work they (the bureaucrats) will have to do. Thus, they may even be a bit rude on occasion to callers inquiring about the programs -- or, more correctly, they may have been. This change for the better, however, means only that you will be assured a courteous response once you know what benefits you may be entitled to and what agency or agencies to contact. (The government still declines to advertise, for the reasons we mentioned earlier.) That's where our reports come in -- providing you with specific program information and with agency address and phone numbers. Don't hesitate to apply for any benefits due you. After all, the money comes from your taxes in the first place. It would be foolish to grumble about taxes when you have to pay them, but then feel like a "freeloader" for trying to get some of them back through legitimate entitlement programs. The money is yours;
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