Squeezin’ the Juice
by SVEA SAUER
Taxes are a touchy subject, especially when coupled with charges of an incompetent Congress. Is it too unfair to point out that we usually elect representatives in both houses who will bring earmarked money back to our own state and that we demand all the benefits that money can buy in public services? And, is it not also true that we are engaged in wars that must be supported by taxes?
It seems to me we should get our priorities straight. The welfare and safety of all the people is the business of congress. The duty of the citizen is to vote and to pay taxes. The duty of the president is to defend the Constitution, protect the rights of all citizens and bind us together in common goals. All well and good except nobody agrees on the congress, the taxes, or the common goals. And anybody can argue about the Constitution.
Maybe we should start agreeing wherever we can and then move forward from there to areas of greatest contention. We can agree we need to eliminate fraud and waste in all departments of government from city to state to national. Each of us has a favorite target we can agree on and that is income tax forms, not just the tax!
We can agree on campaign finance reform. Congress should be able to act without the pressure of losing financial backing from sources more powerful than the voices of the people.
We can agree, I think, on removing worldwide military bases, which have survived long after the wars they served have ended, and put the money saved where the danger is.
My doctor has just returned from Africa where he was doing relief work. Before that, he was in Haiti after the earthquake. He came back marveling at how lucky we are. “Those people have nothing, absolutely nothing. We are so lucky to be Americans. I hope we realize that.” It doesn’t take much exposure to poverty in this country to learn that millions today are suffering at no fault of their own. Perhaps we can agree to help them.
It is true that sometimes we are forced through the fault of others to pay for their sins as we did in the economic collapse. A bitter taste remains, especially when we see them prosper at our expense. Sometimes, we are forced to pay for others in natural disasters or threats of war. We can agree the nation must act even if we feel the pain, and we must act together.
We cannot afford to consider only our own needs when so many others are needy but it is prudent to save for the future too. Can we agree that it is vital to our well being as a nation to seek common ground? Who knows, we may learn from one another.
A nation that is divided will fall. We can certainly agree on that.
