Now to the inconvenient truth part. I am losing my faith in Americans, specifically the electorate. Back in November, the New York Times ran a nifty little interactive feature on its website. It asked viewers to solve the deficient through a series of mixed options of cuts and tax raises. I think everyone needs to try this feature--especially those in Congress--because it makes it painfully clear that some hard choices are needed to balance the budget and that no single approach (cuts or tax increases) is going to cut it (no pun intended).
That doesn't really explain my concern about the American electorate, does it? Well, the New York Times took the responses from the game and analyzed them. It was by no means scientific, just intriguing. Or terribly depressing. The five most popular cuts/taxes increases were (in order): Reduce the size of the military to pre-Iraq war levels, additional cuts to troops in Asia and Europe; allow Bush-era tax cuts for incomes above $250,000 to expire; reduce Social Security for those with high incomes; reduce nuclear arsenals and space spending; cancel or delay some weapons programs. Those five were out of forty options. Of the total forty options, five were able to garner at least 50% of support from both those who overall favored tax increases (likely liberals) and those who overall favored budget cuts (likely conservatives). Many of the responses were widely divergent. And that's why I worry about the American electorate--because they seem farther and farther apart, more interested in ideological purity than fact, willing to take nothing if all isn't available to them, view pragmatism and compromises as failings instead of virtues, and place self over country.
This ideological purity fetish is more than short-sighted and foolish. It's the modern equivalent of bread and circuses, and it's downright dangerous. The more Republicans refuse to compromise (thanks the the perceived power of the the Tea Party movement), the more the necessary function of government is stalled. Members of Congress can waste weeks on quarreling over the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell" or raise constant questions about the current president's legitimacy (Native-born? Christian? America-hating commie?), but something that should be easily bipartisan like the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act can't get enough votes to pass the Senate. Endless arguments over abortion; the acceptability of homosexuals as adoptive parents, soldiers, or spouses; and illegal immigration distract from far more important and pressing issues such as basic budgeting and comprehensive reforms of health care, immigration, and tort law.
Of course, those are also indirect. Sure, the legislative process is grinding to a halt, but the infrastructure is intact and the world keeps on turning. So let's turn to Arizona. I've ranted before about the gut job Arizona's very conservative, very Republican legislature did in an effort to balance the budget. Well, one of the things that is finally getting some attention is that Arizona cut transplants for Medicaid recipients with certain health conditions. 100 people on the transplant list are now unable to afford the $200,000 the transplants can cost. At least one of those people had a donor organ located, but could not receive it because his family could not come up with the cash. People die, I get that. People die, even in a first world "exceptional" country, because they cannot afford advanced medical treatment, I get that too. The question is should it happen? Cutting those transplants saved a million dollars in a multi-billion dollar deficit. The same people who rail against "Obamacare," also oppose the states making up the slack or forcing private insurers to provide affordable care to all. I can't speak about the entire legislature, but I can speak about the chair of the appropriations committee and top Republican who lives in Paradise Valley, median home price: $1.74 million, and say his health care costs probably don't keep him up at night.
Which brings me to my final point--the right end of the political spectrum seems increasingly easy to lump together under a single slogan: Screw you, I got mine. So the Tea party and their very conservative Republican allies (and even a few Democrats), with their blaring about individual freedoms and personal rights, don't care about you. That would require thinking about others--their freedoms, rights, and welfare. And the rest of the American electorate seems too apathetic to care, or at least vote.
That's the inconvenient truth.
2 comments:
Wow. I haven't done the NYT budget balancing yet, but I already know there's a lot there and a lot of really hard choices to make. I know it can be hard enough to try to figure out our own budget!
And I also completely agree with "we got our" feel you mentioned. I've had that same feel too. There definitely seems to be a lack of compassion for those who are struggling (including a lack of understanding of why they may be struggling - I'd say for the majority it isn't because they are lazy and unwilling to do anything). And I've also been taken aback by the hatred over the health care act. Would these same people be able to look the sick and dying in the face and tell them "too bad" or tell the families "you should have just let them die instead of wracking up so much debt." I sincerely hope not, I sincerely hope the issue is more a lack of seeing things in a realistic form instead of ideological.
And yes - I am extremely sad over the horrible divide that is ever increasing and the villifying of the "other side" - something that makes it basically impossible for us to find truly good solutions and compromises. And equally sad too that many politicians lost their seats simply because they had made efforts to compromise.
*Sigh*
Sweetheart, you're just coming to understand some ugly truths about being a Republic. Winston Churchill said that democracy is the worst form of government there is, except for all the rest. And he was right. Democracy in action (or Republicanism if you prefer since we are a Republic) is ugly. Since anybody can believe and think what they want to, there is little you can do to make them reasonable if they refuse to be.
And it's difficult to make unreasonable people look at the world in a honest, frank, and generous manner. I say generous because a generosity of understanding is a wonderful thing. Unfortunately it's not something you see much amongst our lawmakers.
But you also have to be willing to do something that most voters refuse to do: do your homework. Vote for a person rather than a party. Look seriously at the consequences of the various types of legislation that an existing politician has voted for. Look for existing politicians who are willing to work across party lines for the greater good.
And pray. Because we seem to have little else in our favor. Doesn't mean I've given up. I haven't. We can't. But I, too, am saddened by the great divide among politicians. But among the general populace we're a lot more centrist than the press wants to think. At least those of us old enough to have a clue. So keep your chin up. Keep voting. And give Paul kisses because he needs them.
And stop stalking your daughter! It's rude to watch her while she's having a private moment in the tub. Hmph. ;)
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