In a pea soup world
Commentary by MAX CASEBEAU
(Max Casebeau, of Sun Valley,
is the executive director of the Center for Environmental Education at
www.wcei.org.)
In a pea soup world, people would
rather believe than know, and guess than learn, and so it follows that
political behavior can be predicted especially during the coming debate
over the size of the 2005 federal budget, which includes, 9/11
investigations, education, heath care, defense, and all the rest of
government overhead and programs, but excludes the Iraqi War. For
frosting on the cake, the election will be probably be decided now with
a divisive proposal of a marriage definition amendment to the U.S.
Constitution.
The Bush Administration budget
proposal raises so many questions about what is important, and what we
taxpayers can afford, and, of course, what the government can't really
afford, without borrowing more money mainly from Europe and China.
The deficit is now $550 billion
(The difference is between tax income and bills to be paid by borrowing
more money). The debt is now approaching $7 trillion ( this is the
amount that U.S. taxpayers are now paying interest on for the use of
this money borrowed in the past to fix the same kind of problems).
Solutions are all about
priorities. Even experienced Washington, D.C., beltway people who say
they understand it, exhibit a full measure of conceit. Republicans now
look like Democrats and visa versa. Ralph Nader now claims that some
conservative Republicans (not corporation Republicans) support his
candidacy because of the increasing concern that the government credit
cards will be maxed out soon.
Washington’s Alan Greenspan of the
Federal Reserve (which is neither federal or a reserve) is now talking
about reducing Social Security and Medicare benefits. What's behind this
scenario of the Bush administration strategy to keep power ?
First run up debt any way you can,
then cut or eliminate those programs that have bothered the Republican
faithful for 60 years. (It is now easy because there will be then no
money to fund the environment, unemployment, Social Security; in short,
do away with Health and Welfare Department. And lastly turn fortress
America to an economic empire by protecting corporate Republican
interests. (This will take about 4 more years.) It will all be done
because the Bush administration feels they have an operating permit
since 9/11 as an excuse to defend and spend any way they can
(even if it means going to Mars) to save the presidency for Jeb Bush,
who can continue this Bush regency.
This is the worst of all
scenarios.
An alternative scenario would be
to cut the Defense Department by 50 percent, hire a few good bounty
hunters to get the terrorists, do away with corporate and farm
subsidies, and help defeat poverty every where. Get decent health and
education programs going for all citizens. Get these taxes in line with
what people can afford by tossing out the tax code and starting all over
again. Have a Constitutional Convention determine what kind of country
we want to have and then stick to it. (This would include cleaning up
the intelligence community that couldn't even predict the collapse of
the Soviet Union).
This would be a lot better than
perpetuating a government that can’t even account for the money they
spend, and perpetuating a military WPA program, and a government
financial system that is broke 7 times over.
The Democratic Party may be right.
"This is the most important election that this county will have in this
century." This maybe the stuff of history but a Bush alternative will
make bad reading. This is really about a bipartisan solution to save our
country.
This is better than throwing out
all the Democratic babies with the Republican bath water. There is
enough blame to go around the world several times over.
Let’s "Bring it on" for John
Kerry.