To the editor:

“There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” is an expression for the idea that things ultimately have a cost.

In the March 15 article discussing the universal free breakfast program at Beasley Elementary School, “Mehlville officials recommending free breakfast program be continued,” there is  talk of “breaking even or even making some money on the program,” and being “reimbursed by the federal government.”

Nowhere was it mentioned that at the end of the day the funding comes from either a taxpayer in Mehlville or elsewhere in the United States.

The students on the expanded program do not qualify based on need. Each government-provided breakfast comes out of the taxes paid by another family trying to pay their grocery bills.

“Making some money” by giving out free stuff is an illusion and the economic equivalent of a perpetual motion machine.

With total government spending in the United States at $7,000,000,000,000 per year ($55,000 per household per year) and government debt far above that, we can’t afford to keep giving ourselves “free stuff” despite what department budgets may say.

The fight against collectivism starts at the local level.

Let’s help each other out when needed, but first be a community of strong and independent families.

Nathan Maichel

Oakville