For the last several weeks, against the backdrop of the debt crisis in Washington, I have woken up every morning with a similar thought: are we there yet? Every day, friends have asked, “Is there going to be a deal? When is this going to end?” And each time, I have answered, “I really don’t know what is going to happen.”
To say that it has been a long slog since July 4th weekend would be an understatement. It’s been nearly 100 degrees most days, tensions on the Hill have been high, tempers have been short, and most importantly, my 2 dogs have been on Holiday at the grandparent’s house in Maine, making it extremely lonely here.
Yesterday afternoon, I called my mom to update her on the latest machinations in Washington on the debt crisis and had her put the dogs on the phone. Hunter intently listened seemingly believing this was some cruel trick all the while knowing I was really 650 miles away. Alex began wagging his tail in anticipation I would jump out from behind the couch and yell, “Surprise!” It was a brief moment of joy from an otherwise never ending oppressive combination of exhaustion and exasperation caused by the heat and debt crisis respectively.
So where are we with just 2 days left to the looking deadline of August 2nd? News sources report that the GOP is “very close” to a deal with the President, which causes me to have hope but also great trepidation.
It is mind boggling to me that multi national corporations and the wealthiest Americans who are where they are because of yes hard work, but also the greatness of America, are not being asked to pay their fair share while some have suggested cuts to Social Security and Medicare. It is mind numbing to me that we are still in Afghanistan at a cost of roughly $190 million U.S. dollars a day but we have allowed this crisis to get to the point where our men and women in uniform wonder if they will get paid next month and veterans come home with untold costs of PTSD and traumatic brain injury. And it is wildly frustrating knowing that extending the Bush tax cuts last December added over a trillion dollars to our deficit, thereby at least in part, necessitating the raising of the debt limit in the first place.
You know, I agree that Washington needs to get spending in control, but to suggest that cuts alone will solve this problem is naïve at best. So here’s what I would do to get us to an affirmative answer to the question of “Are we there yet?”
- Let the Bush tax cuts expire. The so called job creators (the wealthiest Americans) didn’t create any jobs since these were first enacted in 2001 and later in 2003 – in fact, they eliminated jobs to protect their massive wealth. Cost: roughly $1 trillion.
- End the wars in Afghanistan and bring the troops home from Iraq. If the Soviet Union couldn’t create stability in Afghanistan with very different rules of engagements, what makes us think we can? Cost: roughly $1 trillion.
- Require the Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate for drug prices in the $500 billion Medicare drug program; something the Veterans Administration already does on behalf of our veterans. Cost: Estimated tens of billions in savings
- Spending cuts that don’t cut benefits to seniors; Social Security or Medicare – after all they worked their whole lives and it’s their money. Cost: $1 trillion
- Eliminate tax breaks for oil corporations and subsidies for ethanol. After all, oil companies are experiencing record profits and federal law mandates ethanol in gas so these corn growers are guaranteed a market anyway. Cost: Roughly $40 billion
That’s how I believe we could at least begin to tackle this problem. The last time we had a federal surplus, we achieved it through deficit reduction that raised taxes, ghastly I know, and cut spending. And if memory serves me correctly, the people who saw their taxes go up, experienced a decade of incredible wealth.
But anyway – back to reality. There’s two days left. I hope this gets solved soon, and then I look forward to heading home to Maine – the way life should be. Hunter and Alex are waiting.
