Letters from Linden
by JACK LINDEN
Well, the Republicans not only won the election for the House of Representatives in November, they also won the White House. The president is following the Bush years and policies without a fight. So much for principles!
The tax cuts passed during the Bush administration, 2001 and 2003, were supposed to end December 31, 2010. Those tax cuts were not “paid for” by the Republican Congress and were designed to end during the second year of a new president’s tenure. Anyone who knows anything about the American Congress and taxes knows that once a tax cut is put in place, it is political suicide to stop it.
If you are not convinced, listen to Andrew Card, an advisor to President Bush. To paraphrase Card, leaving a legacy of a permanent tax cut is not a bad one to leave. The Republicans planned it and we are now faced with a continuation of an economic policy that saw a net loss of jobs.
Reality check: the compromise on the tax issue will cost approximately $900 billion dollars, none of it paid for. In comparison, the Republicans ridiculously argued that the extension of unemployment insurance – all $12 billion of it – had to be paid for.
In accepting the compromise, the president and the Democrats in Congress have now allowed the Republicans to continue a policy under the guise that it is merely an extension. How did they forget that the Republican tax cuts were to end in 2011? If it was written into law that the cuts would end, what makes them think that a temporary extension is going to be temporary? Where is the reality?
Another reality check needs to be taken by the American people. If we are truly concerned about the national debt, we have to start making decisions that require sacrifices. We all know that if our credit card debt gets to be too high, we cut back on our spending. If you are really serious about the national debt, you have to make sacrifices. The president has already frozen the pay of federal employees with some exceptions. What are you willing to do?
No matter what the choices are, it is not going to be easy. We are going to have to think in new terms – about what is good for the nation, not just us.
If you don’t believe the federal government should help with health care, then you must be willing to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Care. If you believe we should cut defense, then you should begin thinking about cutting weapons that even the Defense Department doesn’t want, knowing it could mean a loss in your district. You might also start demanding that we end the two wars started under the Bush administration that were not and are not being paid for. Dad and Mom might be on social security, but you will probably need to reduce payments to them as well.
This debt reduction is not going to be easy. Yes, you may have been for the tax extension but you must also remember that we are increasing the national debt because of it. The next time someone tells you we are putting the cost of government on our children’s and grandchildren’s shoulders, remember that you are a part of that.
It is time for the president, the Congress and the American people to have a reality check. It will hurt but that is what the truth does sometimes.
