Imagine your wallet or pocket book with three different compartments.  Now, the local taxes come from one compartment; your state taxes from the second, and the third is your federal taxes.

The money is still coming out and you still have to compensate for having less because there are taxes.  So when there is a grant being requested from the State or Federal Government; it is still your money.

That is  a simplistic view of the situation and not a completely accurate one because the Federal government also borrows or prints some part of the money that it give away or spends for federal programs.

The idea that I want to convey is that just because grants are from the state or federal government does not mean that they are free money.  There are too many politician who are unable to grasp this concept.

Every grant should be reviewed to make certain that the money is absolutely needed before we burden our fellow Americans with the cost.  If all people viewed it this way, it would reduce the power of pork spending.  Grants should not be viewed as "free money" because they aren't.  The money is costing our fellow citizens and future citizens dearly.

I wanted to share these thought with you because I want to make clear my thinking before I address grants in the future.