Where is our money going to?

Today, while reading the paper, a story caught my eye. In my hometown there is talk of laying off three (3) officers from our police force. This is truly sad because these are three families that will be affected. This, however, is not an isolated incident. My former hometown, a minor city, laid off over thirty (30) officers in the past few years. All throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts towns are being forced to make these decisions to cut security forces, firefighters, public workers, and teachers.

What I want to know is... how are we in so much debt that we are being forced to cut essential forces? We live in a state that taxes us for almost everything possible. In fact the governor is discussing raising more taxes to make up for the debt. What do we get for these taxes? Honestly, I have no clue! We are not getting the police and firefighters we need. We are not getting the funding for education and teachers we need. We are not getting quality roads to drive around on(because quite frankly the road maintenance is horrible).

So, I ask, what are we paying for? Some simply blame the economy is causing a rise in prices for programs which the government is responsible for. But, what are these programs? Why in a time in which we can buy less, afford less, and the dollar is becoming worth less is our government spending more and taxing more? In a time like this the government should cut all non-essential programs. The government should cut spending and maybe give the common man more money in his pocket. More money in the common man's pocket means that he is more likely to go out and buy something and, surprise, surprise, maybe this will help out the economy.

Where have these promises been, by both our governor and our president, to a) balance the budget and b) go line by line to cut wasteful spending?