(Note: This rant was originally written a couple weeks ago, just getting around to posting it now, when there's still a chance the House may shame the Senate to grow a pair and stand up to Bush. Let's hope so.)
So many emotions upon hearing this news. I'm furious. Sick to my stomach. Ashamed of my Senator, Ken Salazar (CO). Disappointed in my fellow Americans for either being too dense to understand this issue or too apathetic to give a damn. Frustrated that no one in any position of authority seems able or interested in stemming the slow decline of civil rights in this country. Disgusted (but not surprised) that even if this vote gets mentioned on the evening news (highly unlikely), it will only receive 1/10th of the time & attention devoted to Britney's latest public foible. Outraged on behalf of the Founding Fathers, who would not recognize the country they thought they left for us. Confused about what to do next, short of standing on the Senate steps and egging every old white man that walks by. Still moderately hopeful about Obama's chances to make a difference. Increasingly worried about what slimy trap awaits him in the general election. Despondent that I may have to leave this great land I love if it continues to dissolve like this. Mildly excited about the thought of moving to Canada. Slightly more excited about Europe. Worried about calling anyone on my cell phone to vent. Wondering, who's listening now?
Monday, February 25, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Balancing act
Bush just submitted his final budget to Congress yesterday - $3.1 trillion in spending. For those of us who are mathematically challenged, that's a million times a million, times three. Jesus. It’s obscene and completely untethered to reality, but at least it’s his last one (halleluyah!). Which got me thinking…
About seven or eight years ago I spent the better part of a Saturday engaged in a fascinating civics experiment. A room full of regular citizens divided into ideologically balanced groups of ten or so. We were briefed on the basic funding mechanisms that Congress employs, presented with a list of programs, agencies, etc. to prioritize along with predetermined spending mandates and restrictions, and charged with balancing the federal budget.
What a clusterfuck. I gained a tremendous amount of appreciation for my fellow citizens (both Reps and Dems) as we all struggled with some absolutely impossible choices: Social Security & Medicare vs. defense vs. education vs. social services vs. keeping taxes low and equitable vs. raising certain tax brackets, etc. etc. etc. (This was before 9/11 & the Iraq war, which only would have made things harder.) And none of us had constituents to keep happy, or had lobbyists whispering in our ears - we were just trying to see if we could actually do it and come to some kind of negotiated consensus at our little table. Not many of us could without making huge cuts in programs we cared deeply about AND raising taxes to pre-Reagan levels (30, 40, 50% and up).
Bush's folly notwithstanding, we are in serious trouble, folks. I’m convinced that Americans, whether willfully ignorant or merely clueless, have no true concept of what it would take to realistically balance the massive federal budget. The combination of insane military spending with crippling entitlements like Medicare and SS have tied our hands to the point that we are going to collapse as a society if we don’t make serious changes…and there’s the rub. Who has the political willpower to stand up and break the news to the American people that we’re headed toward certain bankruptcy unless we make drastic changes, let alone has the political ability to actually make those changes happen? Nobody, that’s who - at least nobody in their right mind who wants to get reelected. Maybe a Ralph Nader or Ron Paul type who doesn’t stand a chance in hell of getting elected in the first place (and whose fault is that?).
The truth is, we can’t wait for some savior to come along and lead us through this harsh new reality - ain’t gonna happen. That kind of transformational change can only come from the bottom up, from a motivated, informed, committed populace willing to sacrifice individual interests for the common good. A nation of self-governing, involved citizens, kinda like the Founding Fathers envisioned. Not to be too pessimistic, but does that sound like America circa 2008? Didn't think so.
About seven or eight years ago I spent the better part of a Saturday engaged in a fascinating civics experiment. A room full of regular citizens divided into ideologically balanced groups of ten or so. We were briefed on the basic funding mechanisms that Congress employs, presented with a list of programs, agencies, etc. to prioritize along with predetermined spending mandates and restrictions, and charged with balancing the federal budget.
What a clusterfuck. I gained a tremendous amount of appreciation for my fellow citizens (both Reps and Dems) as we all struggled with some absolutely impossible choices: Social Security & Medicare vs. defense vs. education vs. social services vs. keeping taxes low and equitable vs. raising certain tax brackets, etc. etc. etc. (This was before 9/11 & the Iraq war, which only would have made things harder.) And none of us had constituents to keep happy, or had lobbyists whispering in our ears - we were just trying to see if we could actually do it and come to some kind of negotiated consensus at our little table. Not many of us could without making huge cuts in programs we cared deeply about AND raising taxes to pre-Reagan levels (30, 40, 50% and up).
Bush's folly notwithstanding, we are in serious trouble, folks. I’m convinced that Americans, whether willfully ignorant or merely clueless, have no true concept of what it would take to realistically balance the massive federal budget. The combination of insane military spending with crippling entitlements like Medicare and SS have tied our hands to the point that we are going to collapse as a society if we don’t make serious changes…and there’s the rub. Who has the political willpower to stand up and break the news to the American people that we’re headed toward certain bankruptcy unless we make drastic changes, let alone has the political ability to actually make those changes happen? Nobody, that’s who - at least nobody in their right mind who wants to get reelected. Maybe a Ralph Nader or Ron Paul type who doesn’t stand a chance in hell of getting elected in the first place (and whose fault is that?).
The truth is, we can’t wait for some savior to come along and lead us through this harsh new reality - ain’t gonna happen. That kind of transformational change can only come from the bottom up, from a motivated, informed, committed populace willing to sacrifice individual interests for the common good. A nation of self-governing, involved citizens, kinda like the Founding Fathers envisioned. Not to be too pessimistic, but does that sound like America circa 2008? Didn't think so.
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