Thursday, December 19, 2013

Does Budget Reflect America's Values?

There is an old adage in politics that says a country’s budget mirrors the values of its people.  
If that is true then you have to wonder just what exactly we value as a country.
The Senate passed the House budget by a 64-36 vote.  The budget now goes to the president’s desk to be signed into law.  When it comes to America’s values, this agreement poses more questions than answers.
-We must not value jobs…because there is nothing in this budget to encourage job growth.
-We must not value the unemployed worker…because this budget does nothing to renew the unemployment benefits set to expire on December 28.
-We must not value our veterans…because this budget cuts their benefits in 2016.
-We must not value those living in poverty…because this budget continues to cut food stamps and makes no mention of the farm bill nor increasing the minimum wage.
-We must not value our children…because this budget does nothing to address the fact that our children continue to lag behind those in other developed nations in math, reading and science.
-We must not value fair taxation…because this budget fails to mention tax reform.
-We must not value the needs of the fastest growing segment of our population…because this budget fails to address immigration reform.  
-We must not value our long term financial stability…because there is nothing in this budget that deals substantively with our deficit or long term debt.
-We must not value the continuation of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security…because this budget does nothing to address their impending financial demise 20 years from now.
-We must not value our word…because this budget does nothing to guarantee that we will pay the debts that we have already incurred.
-And finally, we must not value our economy…because the failure to address all of the above imperils our future economic prosperity.
What this budget DOES provide is a guarantee that our politicians will not have deal with a politically perilous government shutdown for another two years…
…and it gets them home for the holidays.  

 

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