FRIDAY OCTOBER 9, 2009

Look how much I saved!

We are all familiar with the old story.  The free spending daughter walks into the house with $1000 in new clothes.  The anguished father is annoyed that the she spent so much money.  But the young lady counters that everything she bought was on sale, so she actually saved money!  The father responds that "I can't afford to save that much!" 

A similar scenario is playing out for real down in Washington.  Yesterday, great cheers were heard when the Congressional Budget Office favorably "scored" the Senate Finance Committee's health care bill.  The CBO announced that the plan would cost "only" $829 billion.  More importantly, it would reduce the deficit by $80+ billion.  Hooray!

I am sorry, but I have a hard time understanding that the government can increase spending by  $829,000,000,000.00 and be hailed for "saving" money and reducing the deficit.  I don't think the country can afford to save that much!

POSTED AT 1899-12-30 12:35:00.0

KEN ENTENMANN, CFA
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND
THE DIRECTOR OF INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Ken is a Senior Vice President and the Director of the Trust and Investment Services at Alliance Bank, N.A. He has 23 years of investment experience and oversees the management of assets totaling $1 billion. He holds a B.S. in Applied Economics and Business Management from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester. He has also earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Trust Division of the New York Banker's Association. He is also a director of the Central New York Community Foundation.

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