Townhall.com, Where Your Opinion Counts
Talk Radio:   Bill Bennett   Mike Gallagher   Dennis Prager   Michael Medved   Hugh Hewitt   
BREAKING NEWS  LeftArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican   RightArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican  
Columns, funnies & more in your inbox!
Login | What's Hot
  • Check the boxes and send us your email address to receveive your free newsletter
  • Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
  • Townhall.com’s weekly inside scoop on what’s happening behind the scenes in the world of politics. When news breaks, we report.
  • Signup to receive the latest daily Townhall cartoons
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Debra J. Saunders :: Townhall.com Columnist
Now Playing: The Four Deficits
by Debra J. Saunders
Forward Print Share Single Page
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
[+] Text [-]
 
 
Poll
What was the biggest suprise of Election Day?



DENVER -- Monday morning, before the Democratic National Committee launched its convention at Denver's Pepsi Center, the documentary "I.O.U.S.A." -- think: "one nation, under stress, in debt" -- played to a small but committed audience at the nearby Starz Film Center. It was a fitting venue, given a national debt of $9.5 trillion and Sen. Barack Obama's pledge to send another tax rebate check to 95 percent of American families.

Next week, "I.O.U.S.A." will be playing at the Republican National Convention, where Sen. John McCain will be pushing his big tax cuts.

"I.O.U.S.A." follows the crusade of budget watchdogs David Walker, the former comptroller general, and Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert Bixby. Walker warns of the perils of America's four deficits -- the federal deficit, the savings deficit, the trade deficit and the leadership deficit.

As the movie cheat sheet explains: The national debt represents about 66 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. According to the Federal Reserve, credit-card debt consumes 5 percent of a typical American family's income. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department estimates that foreign investors hold about 46 percent of the federal debt.

Undeterred by the looming economic hangover, Obama and the Democrats are promising Americans more government. -- that families won't have to pay for.

Film director Patrick Creadon, a Democrat, knows how big the problem is -- but he also understands that the candidate who tells Americans what they will have to give up is not likely to be elected. "We're probably not going to hear a lot about fiscal responsibility in the next 10 weeks," he told me.

Who Is Helping?

There is a poignant moment in "I.O.U.S.A.," when a retired high school teacher, now waitressing, talks about how she was able to get ahead and put a child through college, but she believes it is harder for others to do so now. "We need help," she said.

It reminded me of 2004, when Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who supported a middle-class tax cut, told the DNC convention in Boston, "Help is on the way."

But, as Walker so aptly put it, "Over time, people are going to have to assume more personal responsibility for their own future -- except for those who are poor." Taxpayers are going to have to stop looking to Washington.

When I said as much to Creadon, he responded that he did not think the retired teacher was asking for more government help. "To me, she is saying, 'We need leadership.'"

Get Real

How do you square the Obama tax-cut plan with the message of "I.O.U.S.A.," I asked Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., a dean of the Blue Dog Democrats? Continued...
1 2
| Full Article & Comments | Next >
Share:
Forward Print Single Page
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
 
About The Author

 
TOWNHALL DAILY: Be the first to read Debra Saunders' column. Sign up today and receive Townhall.com daily lineup delivered each morning to your inbox.

Join The Debate!

Post Your Comment
(7 comments so Far)
View in ascending order     View in descending order
Reply # 1
Date: Aug 27, 2008 - 2:28 PM EST
Bud
You recognize what the author does not want to say. Ironic how so many people are willing to say "we have a problem", but never discuss the reality of the solution.

We have run budget deficits that have averaged some 15% of annual spending for the last 8 years. We know very well we cannot pay the costs of the entitlements we have, which are the promises we have made. We spend some 22% on defense, whereas most of the rest of the world spends 5% to 10%. The bottom line is that we cannot spend 22% on defense while the rest of the world spends 10% - 15% less, and then spend a similar amount and they do social programs as well, and also have lower taxes.

Yet, we see almost 2/3's of the public claim that they want the government do do more with health insurance, and a similar number repeatedly state that they do not want social security changed. Politically, we hear both candidates talk about "cap and trade", tax cuts, and spending more on the military. We listen to the AARP threaten political destruction to anyone who attempts to reign in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Drug Entitlement act. We couldn't even cut $5 billion a year out of Medicare a few weeks ago, yet we have a deficit approaching $500 billion. We live in an Alice in Wonderland world. To me, it's what I call the silly season. And the best approach is to ignore it.

Some act like the horse is still in the barn. The reality is that it left the barn, and closing the gate behind it will accomplish nothing. McCain and Obama are creatures of the system, they continue to praise it, and to support it. Because that's what they think the public wants to here.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 2
Date: Aug 27, 2008 - 11:51 AM EST
Re: Chicaree - Social Programs Edited

It might be helpful to check your premises.

It is worth remembering that Roosevelt sold social security on the premise that it would be a temporary program, whose purpose would no longer exist once the conditions of the Depression were relieved. People conveniently forget that the Depression was largely created by government actions.

It is not obvious that things are better in some of these other countries. Costs are controlled by rationing government-controlled services for the masses, while the self-appointed elites in those countries get priority (or come the U.S. for quasi free-market health care). Surely you are not citing Putin's Russia as worthy of emulation!

Note that ~20% of colon cancer patients in the UK die while waiting in queue for treatment. Many birth defects, such as cleft palate, which are routinely treated here, are considered cosmetic defects and not treated elsewhere. Really compassionate, don't you think?

Please explain why you would trust your health care, financial planning, or personal safety to a government that (a) can't profitably run a post office, (b) can't give you correct tax advice when you call the IRS, or (c) execute any program within promised cost and schedule, regardless of size?

The obvious answer is that you should not do so. Government is not competent to address your personal needs, and never was intended to do so, regardless of the system of choice. With respect to the USA, read the Constitution and the Federalist Papers to see for yourself. The Founders wrote extensively on why government needed a short leash, and the dividing line separating individual and State was explicitly addressed.

Your well-being and safety is *your* responsibility and cannot be delegated unless you are content to be a ward of the state. If you want to be a ward of the state, there are numerous options elsewhere, as you note.

v/r,

-- Bud
Flag as Offensive
Sign Up to Post Your CommentsSign Up to Post Your Comments
If you are already registered, click here to login. Otherwise, please take a few seconds to register with Townhall.com. Once you sign up, you’ll be able to post your comments immediately, use the action center, get podcasts, and more!
Note: Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required.
Salutation:
First Name:
*
Last Name:
*
Email:
*
Nickname:
*
Note: Nick name will be shown when you post comments.
Address 1:
*
Address 2:
City:
 *
State:
 *
Zip:
 *
Phone:
       
Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
(Bi-Weekly) We highlight the best opportunities from our partners for surveys, action items and more.