Wednesday, October 29, 2008
America must pay off its debts
From the RoundTable blog
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Cabell Brand
Brand, of Salem, is a retired business executive, a founder of the community services agency Total Action Against Poverty in Roanoke and author of the new book, "If Not Me, Then Who?"
We're all deeply concerned with the current economic crisis, and most everything else has taken a back seat to other topics in our political discussions. That includes the two wars this nation is fighting and their related human, economic and political consequences.
What the American people need to hear, discuss and understand, not only in political debates but throughout our society as Election Day nears, are clear, direct, "real world" expectations of what we want the government to do and how we can pay for it.
Politicians like to talk about tax cuts. But what about our responsibilities and the burden of debt in every area of our society, which is at the heart of this economic crisis?
What do we want local, state and federal governments to do? Once we collectively answer that question, we need to face up to the fact that the government's only source of revenue is taxes. No one enjoys paying taxes, but this is what we need to be willing to do if we want government services.
The debate thus far has failed to bring detailed discussions on the fundamental problem: articulating the function of government in such a way as to preserve both liberty and justice, and to extend effectiveness of the free-enterprise system.
The United States for at least the last 50 years has been the world's strongest military and economic power. The dollar has been the international currency. This, however, is changing. Oil used to be traded almost exclusively in dollars, but the world has begun to lose confidence both in our leadership and in our fidelity to our own economic and political principles.
The two best books I have read recently to explain the current crisis are "The Limits of Power" by Andrew Bacevich and "Bad Money" by Kevin Phillips. Both books address the huge gap between financial institutions, political decision-makers and the body politic.
These books are not Democratic or Republican analyses. They are nonpartisan, realistic assessments of America's problems. In all honesty, many Americans will not like what they read in these books.
"Yet if presidents have too much power," Bacevich writes, "if the Congress is feckless, if the national security bureaucracy is irretrievably broken, the American people have only themselves to blame. They have allowed their democracy to be hijacked. The hijackers will not voluntarily return what they have stolen."
To reclaim their democracy, the American people have to realize that there will be a price to pay. They must decide what they specifically expect from their government.
Preserving national security must come first, but beyond protecting our physical security, we should expect the government to provide basic education, roads and bridges, public health, clean air and water, protection of bank deposits and an essential safety net for those entrapped in poverty.
Among the most heated points of concern now is the extent of oversight and regulation of the financial services industry, the inadequacy of which is widely acknowledged.
Yet all of the debates have dealt mostly in general terms and on only the fringes of such issues. Unfortunately, I'm afraid voters will be influenced by personalities, rather than leadership and vision, to guide their choices on Nov. 4.
I have heard no discussion on how to pay for the mounting federal debt or the annual budget deficits. The core economic problem in the current circumstances is the overwhelming level of both public and personal debt that has escalated in the last couple of decades.
Growth alone will not alleviate this crisis. Simply, we need to pay off our debts. Although the current anti-tax political environment will arouse shrill opposition, we could levy a surtax on individual and corporate income taxes. But the challenge, after all, is to govern, not merely to campaign. Who among the candidates for president and Congress has the courage to suggest something like this?
I have not personally met Barack Obama, but I admire his fresh approach and his rising from humble origins to achieve commendable success. He has access to the best advisers in the country. For the economy, he has Warren Buffett and his associates. In foreign policy, he will consult Richard Holbrooke and Madeleine Albright, and for the environment, former Vice President and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore.
As for me, I will vote for what I assess as wise, prudent, realistic leadership at all levels of government, hoping that such leadership will have the courage to attack our nation's gravest problems that have been so long neglected.
