Reality Government

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2010



I am a Christian. I am a Protestant. I am a member of the Methodist Church. I have been a Presbyterian and a Baptist, but right now I am a Methodist. When I move, I seek a new church. I look to Protestant Christian churches. I just don't fit in Catholic Churches, or with the non-denominational churches, and what I believe does not match Jewish, Muslim, Buddist, etc. I like a church that has a book of church order, a statement regarding what the church believes and stands for, a hierarchy that ensures that the church will be true to its stated mission and purpose, and ground rules for church operation. Admittedly, I have attended and supported churches whose pastor or preacher or minister is not someone I particularly like, or may even be someone with no charisma or leadership, or someone who is physically unattractive. But, I am a member because this church reflects my beliefs and leads me to better understanding of my faith. In other words, when it comes to my belief system, I am not an independent. I am a Protestant Christian.

So I remain amazed that in the US we have a large group of political independents. I remain even more amazed, that this group swings from belief system to belief system as though (to continue my previous metaphor) Christ has risen, now Mohamed has spoken, now Budda is fat and happy. Our major political parties post for all the world to see what they believe, what they stand for, and what policies and legislation they support. My prayer for every independent out there is that they will read these platforms and make up their minds. I truly support erstwhile Republicans, that is, those folks who earn more than $300K per year, are determined to pass their wealth to their kids, are angry about federal intervention in the workplace (until they go broke - then they want help), are angry at immigrants in a nation of immigrants, and are especially angry at federal taxes to provide services to the less fortunate. I get it. I'm just not one of them. Meanwhile....

It has taken me a month to fully digest the outcomes of the November elections, and I am still not sure I've got it right. I believe in democracy, and the people have spoken, or at least the 50% some odd of the registered voters have spoken. The surface message I hear includes smaller government and reduce the deficit. There is a subliminal message, however, that has me much more concerned. I posted earlier describing my feelings regarding the Tea Party and will not re-hash here and now. It appears the "independents" have swung the other way. Democracy is not easy. But I have some questions:

How many poor, unemployed folks do you know who are members of the Tea Party? For that matter, members of the Republican Party?

How many Republicans do you know who screamed about the deficit when George Bush went from a surplus in 2000 to an $11.9 trillion deficit in 2008?

How many medical doctors, hospitals, and health insurance companies have declared bankruptcy in the last two years?

How many of you remember or have read what Herbert Hoover was saying and doing in the late 1920's and where can you find the same rhetoric today?

How many of you want to reduce government spending and reduce taxes?

How many of you want to reduce the deficit and maintain government services?

Frankly, I am stumped. Obama's deficit spending accounts for roughly 1/3 of the current deficit, the other 2/3 created by Bush. OK, if you worry about that, and I don't, at least not at this level of debt, there are some pretty simple ways to solve the problem: cut spending and increase revenue. To cut spending, we stop spending federal dollars on the military, on social security, on medicare/medicaid. Those are the big ticket items, but no one recently elected is advocating that and I grow more confused. Increasing revenues would also help decrease the deficit, but cutting taxes decreases revenues and I don't get that if you are serious about the debt.

On the other hand, if you want to have job security as an elected representative, it appears that you should rage against the deficit, propose cuts in spending in any program that does not impact your constituency, and reduce taxes all at the same time. While you are at it, you might want to undue legislation that increased the number of people who can get health care and possibly reduce the income of health care providers. Dear ole Mr. Hoover promoted the same policies in the late 1920's and it took FDR, the New Deal, and WWII to spend our way out of that pickle. (By the way, the debt was much worse after WWII than it is now, and somehow we did fine once we stopped defense spending at the end of the war.)

And events in Texas remain equally bizarre. The impact of the November elections in my home state merit a post of their own.

Sadly, democracy works when we all participate and our participation is based on knowledge, understanding, learning, questioning and researching. These are not skills we test in public schools much anymore thanks to standardized assessments. What we are preparing our youth to do is make great judgments on American Idol(atry) and Dancing with the Stars, a.k.a, stumbling with the asteroids. Our election results in November remind me more of the competitive reality TV show outcomes than of an informed, democratic decision making. OK. You don't personally like Nancy Pelosi because she is a pushy broad, and you may be offended that your President is an African American. Get over it. Their policies make sense for these times. This is not about the team you want to win the great race on TV, this about what makes the most sense for the most Americans at the most challenging times.

Now, it appears to me, we step backward to the same belief system that led us to the economic debacle of 2008. The gap in the rich and poor will grow, the deficit will grow, the amount of money that rich folks can pass on to their kids will amount to the institutionalization of an American Aristocracy, health care will likely be a luxury, and taxes will remain low for those fortunate enough to have a job. But, the Palin progeny will not win Dancing with the Stars, so I guess there is some hope.