Clinton and Bush Avoided Hard Budget Choices
By Brother Rogers
In these turbulent times, if there is one thing we can all agree on, it is that our nation’s finances are in real trouble. The worst economic decline since the Great Depression of the 1930s is mainly responsible for our fiscal woes, but we are also reaping the consequences of bad political choices that stretch back to the 20th century.
During the boom years of the economy under President Clinton, he missed a good chance to reform Social Security and Medicare. He knew of course that as the baby boom generation aged and the costs of health care increased, spending on federal health and retirement programs would grow. There were good political reasons to avoid the hard choices then, but an obvious time bomb was ticking.
President Bush, in the words of conservative columnist Robert Samuelson, “made a bad situation worse.” It didn’t take a Harvard MBA, which Bush has, to realize the hard choices put off by Clinton needed to be faced head on to avoid fiscal catastrophe. Bush’s response was to, in Samuelson’s words, go “overboard” cutting taxes in 2003 and add to government spending with an expensive new Medicare drug benefit. These were popular political choices (who doesn’t want more benefits and less taxes?), but they added to the national debt.
Republicans blame Democrats, and Democrats blame Republicans. Both blame the media, and the public hates the media and politicians. The real problem is that our politics is broken. The damage is not irreparable, and thankfully the system put in place by the Founders can handle the strain.
Our political leaders are eager to be seen as “right” in the eyes of their followers. Democrats want to prove they are progressive and paint Republicans as uncaring. Republicans want to prove they are conservative and tarnish Democrats as big spenders. To compromise at all for the good of the country is seen as blasphemous to the base of both parties.
It reminds me of marital advice I heard from a preacher. He said, “To make a relationship work, sometimes you have to choose between being right or being reconciled.”
Our political leaders would do well to follow this advice. Anyone with a working knowledge of basic arithmetic knows that lower retirement benefits in the future and higher taxes are a necessary part of our financial solution. Eliminating wasteful spending and taxing millionaires are popular with the public, but unfortunately neither will make much of a dent in the real problem.
Democrats need to budge on Social Security and Medicare. Republicans need to admit that our current tax structure is unsustainable. None of this will be pleasant or popular, which is why this political football keeps getting punted down the field. Both sides are scared to make the first move. If only one side compromises, they anger their base and risk giving the other side credit for winning.
We Americans want fiscal discipline and statesmanship, but we cry foul when any politician wants to cut benefits or raise taxes. Our real problem is that our political leaders are doing just what we ask them to do, representing our beliefs. Maybe we all need to look in the mirror and ask if we as citizens are part of the problem. If we have the courage to show some flexibility, perhaps our leaders will follow suit. Let’s hope so. The fiscal time bomb is still ticking.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works at the Stennis Center for Public Service.
In these turbulent times, if there is one thing we can all agree on, it is that our nation’s finances are in real trouble. The worst economic decline since the Great Depression of the 1930s is mainly responsible for our fiscal woes, but we are also reaping the consequences of bad political choices that stretch back to the 20th century.
During the boom years of the economy under President Clinton, he missed a good chance to reform Social Security and Medicare. He knew of course that as the baby boom generation aged and the costs of health care increased, spending on federal health and retirement programs would grow. There were good political reasons to avoid the hard choices then, but an obvious time bomb was ticking.
President Bush, in the words of conservative columnist Robert Samuelson, “made a bad situation worse.” It didn’t take a Harvard MBA, which Bush has, to realize the hard choices put off by Clinton needed to be faced head on to avoid fiscal catastrophe. Bush’s response was to, in Samuelson’s words, go “overboard” cutting taxes in 2003 and add to government spending with an expensive new Medicare drug benefit. These were popular political choices (who doesn’t want more benefits and less taxes?), but they added to the national debt.
Republicans blame Democrats, and Democrats blame Republicans. Both blame the media, and the public hates the media and politicians. The real problem is that our politics is broken. The damage is not irreparable, and thankfully the system put in place by the Founders can handle the strain.
Our political leaders are eager to be seen as “right” in the eyes of their followers. Democrats want to prove they are progressive and paint Republicans as uncaring. Republicans want to prove they are conservative and tarnish Democrats as big spenders. To compromise at all for the good of the country is seen as blasphemous to the base of both parties.
It reminds me of marital advice I heard from a preacher. He said, “To make a relationship work, sometimes you have to choose between being right or being reconciled.”
Our political leaders would do well to follow this advice. Anyone with a working knowledge of basic arithmetic knows that lower retirement benefits in the future and higher taxes are a necessary part of our financial solution. Eliminating wasteful spending and taxing millionaires are popular with the public, but unfortunately neither will make much of a dent in the real problem.
Democrats need to budge on Social Security and Medicare. Republicans need to admit that our current tax structure is unsustainable. None of this will be pleasant or popular, which is why this political football keeps getting punted down the field. Both sides are scared to make the first move. If only one side compromises, they anger their base and risk giving the other side credit for winning.
We Americans want fiscal discipline and statesmanship, but we cry foul when any politician wants to cut benefits or raise taxes. Our real problem is that our political leaders are doing just what we ask them to do, representing our beliefs. Maybe we all need to look in the mirror and ask if we as citizens are part of the problem. If we have the courage to show some flexibility, perhaps our leaders will follow suit. Let’s hope so. The fiscal time bomb is still ticking.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works at the Stennis Center for Public Service.