"Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll
tell you what you value." -- Vice President Joe Biden
Throwing money at a problem doesn't solve it. But putting
your money where your mouth is is both a practical and a symbolic way of
showing the world what you think is important and what you intend to do about
it.
In 2014, the state of Utah spent $45 million more dollars on
services for children than in did in 2008. Which sounds good, until you figure
in -- as the folks at Voices for Utah Children have done-- that the number of
children living in the state climbed by nearly 59,000.
Divide that out and, over the same period that the number of
people under the age of 18 climbed by 7 percent, the per-child spending fell by
6 percent -- from $5,746 per child in 2008 to $5,424 each last year.
Read the Complete Editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune
Read the Complete Editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune