Are Our Politicians Governing?
I waited to write this column until Sunday afternoon in hopes that there would be news that our politicians had made a deal concerning raising the debt limit. I haven’t heard anything yet, so I decided I better get this done! Hopefully by the time this is published, the debate over the debt ceiling will have ended, and perhaps our politicians will have gone back to governing. We have a lot of problems that need solving. The deficit is one, but we seem to have forgotten along the way the myriad of other issues. What have we been doing about job creation, environmental issues, infrastructure issues, problems in education, foreign policy, and so on and so on! Our politicians haven’t been governing; they have been playing a game with the well-being of our country in order to garner political gain!
The pledge that Tea Partiers and most Republicans signed to never increase taxes under any circumstances is a major cause of most of this political bickering. Because they signed this pledge it basically precludes any possibility of compromise by Republicans. It seems that for those that signed the pledge, it is okay to cut social security, Medicare, Medicaid, and education programs, but not okay to raise taxes. In other words, it is okay for our elderly and most fragile citizens and our children to bear the brunt of cuts, but it is not okay for those who can afford to pay more taxes to do so. Grover Norquist has all their pledges in black folders and has sworn to “tell” on anyone who goes back on his pledge! I compare this pledge to the pledge that many of you made to your best friend when you were ten years old. You promised each other you would always be best friends, no matter what. Well, that rarely happens, because our values change, our interests change, or we move away. In other words, circumstances change! The pledge is probably what former State Senator Chip Pearson had in mind when at a recent hearing on raising the millage for the schools he said, “Friends don’t let friends raise taxes”. But Mr. Pearson, circumstances have changed and communities don’t let communities endanger the education of their children!
Tom Friedman, in his column on July 23 in the NY Times said, “DID I mention that I’ve signed a pledge — just like those Republican congressmen who have signed written promises to different political enforcers not to raise taxes or permit same-sex marriage? My pledge is to never vote for anyone stupid enough to sign a pledge — thereby abdicating their governing responsibilities in a period of incredibly rapid change and financial stress. Sorry, I’ve signed it. Nothing more I can do.” Michael Bloomberg, Billionaire Mayor of NYC was interviewed on Christiane Armanpour’s show “This Week” on Sunday. He said that there is no way to get out of our deficit mess with just cuts in spending. We have to increase revenue through tax reform. He pays a pretty hefty tax bill every year and he said this morning that he will gladly pay more. Why? Because he loves this country and as he said, he is privileged to live here. He said “I get pretty good value for my taxes. We get a lot for our tax dollars.” The reason he has made so much money is that he lives in a stable country with rules and regulations that make it possible to do business and make money. And I would imagine he wants his children and grandchildren to have those same opportunities in the future.
If it hadn’t been for the Bush tax cuts we would not be in the shape we are in now. We pay the lowest taxes of any major nation in the world. It is time we all—individuals and corporations—pay our fair share so we can maintain the greatness of our country! So politicians, please get back to governing and quit the childish games! We have problems to solve!
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