[Vision2020] Partiers Finally Wake Up to Uncle Sam's Debt

[Jo Campbell]

Great essay, Tom. Thanks for posting it.

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 2, 2009, at 6:37 AM, "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:

> Courtest of today's (July 2, 2009) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
>
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> Partiers finally wake up to Uncle Sam's debt
> By William Brock
>
> Independence Day is fast approaching, so if you're not robotically
> igniting fireworks, this might be a good time to reflect on life in  
> these
> United States.
>
> According to some participants of Saturday's Taxed Enough Already  
> (TEA)
> rally in Pullman, Americans are losing their grasp on liberty, the
> Constitution and our system of free enterprise.
>
> "People need to know what's going on and how close we are to being a
> socialized country," one TEA Party participant told the Daily News.
>
> Maybe she was talking about Medicare, or Medicaid, or that
> money-for-nothing retirement program known as Social Security. Or  
> maybe
> not. But c'mon, is life in the U.S.A., as we know it, really in  
> jeopardy?
>
> I spent some time behind the Iron Curtain in 1981, long before the  
> Soviet
> Union imploded, so I have an inkling of what actual socialism looks  
> like.
> Trust me, capitalist enterprise in contemporary America is in no  
> danger of
> being eclipsed by socialism.
>
> Granted, these are hard economic times, but our national cup is well  
> over
> half full. It's not overflowing like it was three years ago, but many
> Americans can quench their thirst for the good life. Ask around in
> Bulgaria and you'll find most folks are still coming up dry.
>
> I applaud the TEA Party people for their civic engagement, but  
> there's a
> Rip Van Winkle quality to their sudden activism.
>
> If they're so concerned about fiscal responsibility in government,  
> then
> where were they during the golden fleece years from 2000 through 2006?
> That's when Congress, ostensibly controlled by the party of fiscal
> restraint, kept handing blank checks to a president who ran up the tab
> like no one else in American history.
>
> Where were the TEA Party people when America's foray into Iraq -
> originally billed as revenue-neutral thanks to oil sales - began
> incinerating hundreds of billions of our tax dollars?
>
> Where were the TEA Party people when lack of financial oversight  
> finally
> caught up with, and hobbled, America's once-robust economy? My  
> retirement
> savings took a sickening dive when Wall Street tanked, and I'll bet  
> yours
> did too.
>
> Our TEA Party pals doubtless were delighted with the 43rd  
> president's zeal
> for tax cuts. Most wage earners on the Palouse saw their taxes go  
> down by
> a few hundred bucks. It was welcome, but it also was a penny-wise,
> pound-foolish way to squander the federal surplus that accumulated  
> during
> the late 1990s.
>
> Those tax cuts were great for seriously wealthy people, but not for  
> you,
> or me, or anyone who punches a time clock.
>
> And now, thanks to dubious leadership, America is deeply in debt. The
> interest we're paying on that debt is money that could have been  
> spent to
> reduce health care costs, or college tuition, or some other social  
> good.
>
> Instead, we're spending it on debt service. The lost opportunity  
> costs are
> similar to those resulting from credit card debt - you can't afford  
> to buy
> a big-screen TV, and Uncle Sam can't afford to solve pressing social
> problems.
>
> Our new president is trying to confront some of those problems. I  
> wish him
> luck, but I'm withholding applause until I see change I can believe  
> in.
>
> He started off in a deep hole, with the economy in full retreat and
> expensive military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like the Cat  
> in
> the Hat, he's juggling those challenges while simultaneously grappling
> with a difficult national issue: the high cost of health care.
>
> Only now do the TEA Party people pipe up with their faux grass-roots
> activism. Their talking points - the same from Seattle to Miami -  
> didn't
> bubble up from below, they were handed down from above. Just call  
> the TV
> stations, wave a few signs and, presto, instant public indignation.
>
> These folks were played like a fiddle by the last occupant of the Oval
> Office. As conservatives continue to lose the political high ground,  
> the
> TEA Party "patriots" are being played yet again.
>
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> THANK YOU . . . THANK YOU . . . THANK YOU, Mr. Brock, for putting into
> print what so many of us have been thinking.
>
> We look forward to reading more and more of your commentary.
>
> Seeya at Farmers' Market and the Independence Day ceremonies in  
> Friendship
> Square, Moscow.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to  
> change
> and the Realist adjusts his sails."
>
> - Unknown
>
>
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