When the Wheels of Polished Steel Stop… It’s Time to Get Out and Push
"Read my lips… No new taxes!" In 1988, then-Vice President George Bush uttered six words while campaigning for President that still affect our nation today. After he won the election and became the forty-first President of the United States, a recession during his presidency caused Bush to renege on his promise, which many historians say caused his loss for re-election.
In 2001, his son was elected the forty-third President of the United States. George W. Bush was present when his father made his concession speech after losing the 1992 Presidential Election to William "Bill" Clinton. The eight years between each Bush were fiscally sound and when "W" came into power, there was a surplus of money in the federal coffers, thanks to the Clinton Administration. Two wars, a terrorist attack on American soil, the passage of a massive entitlement program (Medicare Part D), and over a dozen tax breaks to big business and the wealthiest of Americans made short work of that budget surplus, though.
Today, the federal deficit has reached the unimaginable number of $13 trillion. In addition, we are in the biggest economic recession since the Great Depression. The question now is: What is more important? Should the federal government cut spending to reduce the deficit or spend to recover? What about a plan that reduces wasteful spending and redirects funds into areas that helps the nation out of the recession?
Earmarks have already added billions of dollars of wasteful spending to the federal deficit. This issue was finally brought to the forefront of newspapers and television during the recent Presidential Campaign. Despite speaking against the practice, the Obama Administration has not fought against earmark spending as of yet. (See Change… Or Just More Pork?) This is wasteful spending in its purest form. The President needs to reduce earmark spending by Congress significantly in the near future; not only to reduce wasteful spending but to provide transparency in government. The billions of dollars wasted on pet projects and kickbacks by lawmakers could have easily been spent on education, health care, and the environment.
Education, health care, and the environment top the list of goals President Obama outlines in his first spending budget. With a price of $3.6 trillion, the plan caused "sticker shock" to many members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat. The attack dogs of the GOP: Grand Opposition Party; as well as conservative watchdog groups and even fiscal hounds in the Democratic Party; voiced immediate opposition to the proposed budget. Cutting funds to health care and the war on global warming seems eminent. In addition, President Obama’s plan to give middle-class Americans a tax break also appears to be doomed. These same lawmakers are the same people who just received a salary increase; which few were against (see The Cost of Representation). This proves once more that wasteful spending, even during the toughest economic times, is acceptable… IF the beneficiaries of that spending is the hypocrites who proclaim the sin of wasteful spending at the top of their voices. Earmark spending and salary increases… just two instances of Congress using taxpayer money for their own personal greed.
Now onto financial corporations and big business. The repeated deregulation of the financial market has lead to today’s recession and credit crunch. Corporations such as AIG, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Bank of America have lead to the destruction of not only the economy of the United States, but have also damaged the global economy. Predatory lending practices have made board members of corporations like these rich at the expense of millions of people across our nation and our world. Deregulation has also lead to millions being swindled out of their life savings by weasels like Bernie Madoff and rackets like the Stanford Group.
Throughout the last quarter of 2008 and into 2009, corporations had to be placed on "life support", a bailout of taxpayer money by the federal government. One would think that these "private" corporations would begin to show frugality and also extend their gratitude to their new stockholders, the American people. Credit should be flowing like manna from heaven, but instead; these bailed-out companies use the tax dollars of you and I to buy corporate jets and hangars, arrange elaborate corporate vacations in Las Vegas, and reward the idiots that sunk the company with bonus after bonus after bonus.
This attitude of greed must come to an end. Government, business, and individuals need to start working together as one before we destroy ourselves and take the whole world down with us. Government needs to do the will of the masses of people it serves instead of the elite rich and big business. Systems must be put in place to ascertain that a recession like the one we are in now can NEVER happen again. The backdoor practice of earmark spending must be OUTLAWED. Business needs to take ownership for their actions. Predatory practices need to be brought to an end and a fresh dose of honesty and service must replace them. Huge corporate conglomerates need to be fractured into smaller companies. If a business is "too big to fail," then it’s simply too big to exist. We are a country of small business owners achieving the American Dream; not a nation of a few faceless corporations that have no sense of social responsibility or service. We need to invest in education, health care, and the environment. "W" may have wrecked our national budget and sat idly by as the economy crumbled, but investments in those areas will drag the nation out of deficit and recession with the technologies of tomorrow. We have learned what happens when greed is the motor of our economic vehicle; now it is time to get out and push.
This is a statement of opinion by Dennis Melancon, Jr. If you disagree, I invite your reply.