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Currently, there is a film in many US theaters entitled “I.O.U.S.A.,” an 87-minute documentary that details the grim budget outlook of America. One of the critical challenges for the US is that of the past 47 years, 42 of those years have witnessed a deficit at the national government level. There is really only one basic cause for this: Politicians of both parties prefer spending to taxing. This will not get better! Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid today constitute two-fifths of the $2.9 trillion federal budget for 2008. If this growth rate continues, by 2030 federal taxes will need to rise 50% to keep up with these entitlement programs. Tragically, in one sense, the documentary offers no solutions or choices.
The brutal facts are that neither John McCain nor Barack Obama truly offers any solutions either. Their proposals are quite frankly what Robert Samuelson correctly calls “fantasy politics.” Neither one confronts the need for more revenue. Neither one truly calls for significant reform. Neither truly defines with accuracy the health care crisis and how in the world we are going to pay for it. Neither truly confronts the enormous infrastructure needs of this nation and how we are going to pay for rebuilding that infrastructure. Neither truly confronts the magnitude of the energy needs of this nation and how we are going to pay for them. In short, no matter which candidate is elected, do not expect much change in the matter of expense verses revenue at the national government level. Both candidates seem to be living in a fantasy world and their stump speeches betray that fantasy. The bottom line is that America needs decisive, firm and forceful leadership. Without honest choices, we are doomed to more fantasy policies and no realistic way to pay for these polices. May God deliver us from such fantasy!
See Samuelson's essay in the Washington Post (27 August 2008).
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