by Phillip Torsrud
State governments are salivating over the largesse of aid given to Wall Street, and now the auto manufacturers. There is some discussion in Wisconsin that since President Obama won our state, he will help us deal with our three billion dollar budget deficit. Not in loans mind you, which would only shift the debt, but as the same pork everyone was just decrying in the 2008 election cycle. Two months before Obama has even set foot in office, his so called supporters want him to discredit himself for 2012. With friends like these, who needs enemies?
It's easy to run a state government when the economy is doing well and there's enough tax revenue to support the necessary elements of government, as well as many that are unnecessary. With an economy in decline, someone has to be the adult and decide whether to cut spending or raise taxes. This is why we elect people. We have a lot of people who want to be in positions of leadership, yet will do anything to avoid making any hard decisions. Instead, because the federal government doesn't have a constitutional requirement to balance their budget, putting the taxpayer in greater debt at the federal level is viewed as an acceptable solution. As if that debt doesn't really count.
Inefficiency is an economy killer. The danger of getting into a cycle of eternal bail-outs for those too incompetent to compete, or those too cowardly to make the tough decisions to restore efficiency or productivity, is that we eliminate the competitive edge that our entire system is predicated on. Not just our economic system, but our political system as well. Once upon a time, if politicians couldn't figure out how to make things work in a cost effective manner, the voters got rid of them. Now there is no need for competence at the state level because their success is measured on their ability to suck up to those in federal government to dump more borrowed money on their state.
To clarify, I'm not opposed to the federal government providing funds to the states. They already do that for many aspects of our infrastructure. However, that system has been abused by the pork barrel spending which everyone is familiar with. Changing the name from" earmarks" to "fiscal stimulus package" does not cleanse this soiled practice. That waste is one of the factors behind our ten trillion dollar national debt, and the projected trillion dollar budget deficit for 2009. Furthermore, it is a threat to national security to be at our debt ceiling. We need to be at least a trillion dollars under the ceiling in case a monster earthquake, terrorist attack, or some other unexpected tragedy that requires massive government intervention comes up.
You reap what you sow. People seem to think that if Obama picks the right economic advisers and passes the right stimulus package, all will be well. While those decisions are important, it takes the focus off the initiative of individuals within our society to get educated and creative. They are the ones that will invent the new products and start the new businesses. That's how an economy grows and that process takes time.
You don't plant and harvest in the same season. In 2009 we will collect the harvest from what we've planted in previous years, and it doesn't look good. At the same time, we will be planting for 2010 and beyond and that's where president Obama can make a difference. For the last couple of years our government has borrowed tremendous sums to spend now and make it appear as if the economy was healthy. If we want a real change, and change was the mantra accepted by the voter in 2008, it will only happen if the money our government is borrowing is used to invest in our nation's future. We can call the process of converting ten trillion dollars in debt into ten trillion dollars of infrastructure, Obamanomics.
One problem for President Obma is that the majority of politicians face elections in 2010 and 2012. Politicians are short-sighted, and have repeatedly failed to make decisions based on the long term interests of our nation. He needs politicians to not only accept change, but also McCain's mantra of putting America first. For wouldn't it truly be the greatest change if politicians did put America first? This means biting the bullet now and making sacrifices. Will politicians find that too hard to swallow? If you want to be leaders, lead!
See more of my blogs and my books at www.crimeandculture.com.
