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Is it just me, or does it seem to everyone else that folks in Washington are crazy?
This country (heck, the whole planet) has serious problems, and yet Washington seems to be
largely deadlocked in bickering and partisan stalling tactics. I feel as if I’m
on the Titanic and the people in Congress are just rearranging the deck
chairs.
Take the deficit. Have you ever seen anything crazier? I know it’s a problem
balancing the books in the current economy ... I’m having a problem balancing
mine, after all, and from what I hear, I’m not alone. But the people we elected
and sent to Raleigh are managing to keep North Carolina’s budget
balanced. We may not like some of the belt-tightening, but North Carolina has a
balanced budget, we still receive state services, and this state is one of the
few in the country that has kept its excellent bond rating -- which
means if we have to borrow money to build roads or schools, we can do it at a
low interest rate, which saves money in the long run.
But the last 10 years in Washington
have been a nightmare of irresponsible tax cuts for the super-rich, pork barrel
projects, and war. The last time the U.S. government had a surplus was
under Bill Clinton. Now I realize our economy got stuck in a ditch, and we
needed a really big tow truck to haul it out, but I think most of us are
getting the feeling that we’re playing by the rules and being held
responsible for our actions (think: bank overdraft fees), and the Big Banks and
Wall Street boys who ran us all off the road in the first place didn’t even
have their license checked!
I believe we need to reduce the deficit so we don’t bankrupt our children’s
future and do it in a such way that we create economic growth for everyone
in this country. Economic growth during the Bush years was confined to the top
2% of the income pile; and when the bubble burst, the economy fell off the
cliff because there was nothing real to sustain it.
I personally favor several paths to reduce the deficit. And yes, I’ve seen
the disingenuous web site "You Cut," which our local Congresswoman
has been promoting recently. Congressional Republicans listed some things they
thought we might want to vote out of the budget in order to cut the deficit,
and it turns out if they’re all cut, we’ll solve less than two-tenths
of one percent of our deficit problem. Wow. That’s like my teenager giving
up 3 bags of microwave popcorn a week and my saying, “Thanks! Now I can pay the
mortgage!”
Most of the proposals to cut the deficit that I’ve seen just don’t pass my “smell
test” ... that is, providing economic growth for everyone. One proposal
is to cut education. That means we shortchange our kids’ educations so a bunch
of people my age don’t have to pay reasonable taxes on millions of dollars
in income! That’s called “eating the seed corn.” This country used to be a
hot-bed of invention and innovation. We’ll never get that back if our kids drop
out of high school and don’t know how to do anything but play video games. We
have to invent and build stuff for there to be industry and jobs so we can
generate the revenues necessary to pay for what we need. And we have to have
educated kids who can do that.
Another proposal is to cut Social Security. That’s just plain wrong. People
who’ve worked hard all their lives deserve a decent retirement. Besides, over
the last 40 years, even adjusted for inflation, our national output of goods
and services per person (the Gross Domestic Product) has more than
doubled. Can anyone seriously tell me that we “can’t afford” retirement
benefits for average folks? Or are we just saying it’s better to cut the income
of someone getting $12,000 from Social Security so some honcho on Wall Street
can get a $10-million bonus?
Here’s an idea: How about Eisenhower-era taxes on Wall Street bankers,
speculators, and multi-billionaire heiresses? I remember the Eisenhower years,
and they were pretty good ones. They were years of unprecedented economic
growth ... for everybody.
One of the more interesting ideas to come across my desk lately is a bill
called “The War Is Making You Poor Act.” Ever since President Bush mired us in
two wars on the other side of the world, funding for those wars has been
invisible -- hidden in special appropriations bills. Next year, that’ll be $159
billion. This proposal is for that funding to be included as a line item
in the Federal Budget, so when it’s cut the money can be used for tax cuts on
the first $35,000 of everyone’s incomes.
Finally, we need to jump-start long-term economic growth in order to reduce
the deficit. I believe that means investing in jobs and sustainable industry,
cutting our dependence on oil, and investing in education. The question remains
-- do the incumbents in Congress have the vision -- or the will -- to pass
anything that level-headed?
Marjory Holder is the 2nd Vice Chair of the Watauga County
Democratic Party. She balances her family’s checkbook in the Blowing Rock
precinct.
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