To greed, all nature is insufficient.
- Seneca
When we criticize Obama for failing to present to the American people an overarching narrative that helps to define for us where the battle lines are drawn, who the good and bad guys are, and what we should believe in and fight for, this is what we critics are talking about. The absence of this narrative (and the gaping vacuum that absence has created for others to fill) is one of the main reasons that this presidency has failed so miserably.
It’s become fashionable among many on the Far Right to play the Chicken Little card- “The sky is falling!! The sky is falling!!” To this way of thinking, our national debt is a crisis of such epic proportions that only equally epic and deep across-the-board guts in government spending can save the Republic.
Well, that’s one way to look at things, I suppose. It’s easy to play the desperation card when your agenda dovetails nicely with the perceived solution. A more sober approach just might reveal that things aren’t in fact as dire as the Right-wing alarmists would have us believe. In fact, a rational review of Rep. Paul Ryan’s draconian budget might just reveal his plan for what it truly is- an attack on the poor, the middle class, and those who lack influence in Washington. Not that I’m going to soft-pedal the need for getting our fiscal house in order, but Ryan’s budget is a smokescreen for the Right’s undeclared war on middle- and lower-class America.
Like a lot of folks, I listened to President Obama’s rebuttal of Ryan’s budget last week, and I imagine that my reaction what similar to many on the Left. “Great! Nice speech! Now can you stand and deliver?” I applaud the recognition that we don’t need to metaphorically set seniors adrift on ice floes to solve our budget woes. We shouldn’t have to increase the tax burden on the middle and lower classes will reducing it on the upper 2% of earners in the name of fiscal emergency. We shouldn’t be cutting vital services while we ignore our bloated defense budget, which even Secretary of Defense Robert Gates thinks should be reduced.
More than anything, though, we should be looking at the two graphs above, which really tell us just about everything we need to know about the origin- and ultimate solution- to our burgeoning deficit. No, requiring the super-rich to step up and pay their fair share won’t magically balance the budget. We still need to take a serious look at the federal government with an eye toward eliminating waste and duplication of effort. Nonetheless, would you fix a flat tire on your car by filling your gas tank? We’re not going to be able to fix the problem if we ignore the 800-lb. gorilla in the room. This is not America of, by, and for the Koch brothers. We ALL have a responsibility to contribute the general well-being. It’s not my responsibility to ensure that David and Charles Koch can accrue yet more billions with little if any responsibility for paying for the benefits of living in a country that’s blessed them with untold riches. It’s time that we woke up and demanded tax fairness be employed if we’re going to be serious about reducing the deficit.
I’m certainly not against success and material wealth, just the “too big to pay taxes” attitude that seems to prevail in Congress. Taxes are not designed to penalize success. Taxes are, however, a shared responsibility, a recognition of a debt owed to the country that makes such success possible. When I look at those graphs and see that income has risen and the tax burden has fallen for the richest 400 Americans, it’s hard not to arrive at the conclusion that someone thinks they’re too big to shoulder their share of the burden.
Yes, by all means cut the defense budget and work to eliminate waste and inefficiency in the federal government. If we’re going to have any hope of reducing the deficit, it’s time we woke up to the reality that we need to force the super-rich to stand up and pay their fair share. Or are you really OK with the idea of balancing the budget on the backs of children, the poor, and the elderly? And can President Obama really back up his words with concrete, principled action…and the refusal to allow Republicans to set the tone and tenor of the debate?
