Last Tuesday’s election supported the notion that Americans want the government to spend less. Our national debt is gigantic, the $814 billion American Reinvestment and Recovery Act hasn’t yielded the immediate dividends we’d hoped for and “Obamacare” is a step toward socialized medicine.
The economy is regaining its footing, but for many, the country’s economic recovery is yet to be felt.
Republican candidates were quick to mention the government’s monetary woes in the months leading up to Tuesday’s election, and now that they have control of the House of Representatives, they appear to be focused on reducing government spending.
In September, Republicans released “A Pledge to America”, an “agenda built on the priorities of our nation, the principles we stand for & America’s founding values.”
Filled with wholesome symbols of the United States, people at work, and politicians speaking to citizens, the Pledge drips with the kind of stylized Americana that the GOP celebrates. It may as well be baked into an apple pie and served at a baseball game. This document is as American as it gets.
Page 17 is covered by a nice photo of a cowboy riding a horse as the sun sets, while page 9 shows a politician with his sleeves rolled up talking to a couple hard-working Americans at a butchers shop. Other pictures involve politicians eagerly listening to cowboy-hat wearing men at town hall meetings and a cute small town street with American flags on street lamps.
Give me a break. While the Pledge succeeds in reminding me of who is commemorated on Mt. Rushmore and whether or not the Statue of Liberty is of a man or a woman, the document does almost nothing in showing exactly how the GOP plans to cut spending. Instead, it builds on the fear that the government is run by a host of rich Democrats who are running America from behind closed doors without the consent of the hard working, GOP card-carrying Americans.
Easy-to-understand headings like “permanently stop all job-killing tax hikes” and “act immediately to reduce spending” suggest that policy making is as easy as choosing between killing and sustaining jobs. It isn’t.
Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan’s “Roadmap for America’s Future” is a welcome alternative to the Pledge offers explanation of exactly how spending could be cut. Sure, it’s longer, doesn’t have heartwarming photos and requires an elementary school education to read.
It’s not the kind of plan I’d like to have a beer with. But it offers more than scare tactics and hollow promises.
Although Ryan has his critics — New York Times’ Paul Krugman blasted him in an editorial for ignoring the loss of revenue that would result from his tax-cuts — he deserves credit for presenting an honest proposal.
In Ryan’s Roadmap are drastic changes in health care, the tax code and retirement benefits. The eligibility age for Medicare would rise to 69 and the retirement age for Social Security would rise to 70.
This sounds scary, but congressman Ryan points out that when social security was enacted, life expectancies were 60 for men and 64 for women. According to 2007 figures, these have changed to 75 and 80, respectively.
Sure, Ryan includes some controversial ideas in his plan, like eliminating the tax on inherited wealth, but his plan is an honest presentation when compared to the hopelessly benign “Pledge to America”.
Send your comments to Ben at Benjamin.negley@asu.edu
