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Let’s look forward. Let’s get out of the way of the past for awhile and stand in the future. I am finally weary from evaluating the last 12 months and even more tired of talking about it. I am worried that we can get caught up in a continuing circle of reliving last year’s economic meltdown and not focusing on moving forward, but it seems to be hard in today’s political world. So let’s get political.
Here we are in the fall of 2009, with a Democratic president, Democratic Congress and a federal government that has deliberately kept interest rates low to encourage borrowing. With all of the “bailout” decisions we are a contributing factor to a declining U.S. dollar, we have citizens screaming and yelling at town hall meetings and we have our ongoing issues of war, deficit, unemployment, terrorism, taxes, potential inflation, deflation, recession and depression. As I explained in the last post, we seem to be in a “Just say yes” political climate.
My President
I should be apolitical in my writing so I don’t offend our clients. More important, I need to think clearly and not let my dogma lead
me off track. I will say, however, that I lean toward a more libertarian form of democracy that is full of virtuous citizens – which really tells those reading this essay very little, because my realistic, practical side wins every contest. I am an old-school thinker and believe that, regardless of the team I voted for, the president deserves my support. He is commander in chief, our appointed leader. It is not helpful to vilify our president, even if I am a Republican or Democrat. It is American to talk about weaknesses in a platform, policy or legislation – but to draw horns on our president’s character is not helpful. Today, the debates about health care, unemployment, wars, global warming, creation care (environmental issues) and even personal lifestyle issues seem to have taken on the tone I have seen only when being evangelized by someone who believes that those who don’t share the same viewpoint are evil.
Democracies are rough and tumble. They are messy (they don’t need to be rude), inefficient and cumbersome. But, in my opinion, democracy is the only system consistent with human nature. However, I have chatted with communists in China, and they think our form of government is too idealistic and impractical.
Can’t Spend or Tax Our Way to Prosperity
President Obama has continued on with President Bush’s policy to just throw money at problems. President Bush threw our money under a “spend and spend more” policy, and President Obama, along with Congress, seems to be throwing it everywhere their predecessors did, and in good political form a few new places, too. All those trillions of dollars, combined with low interest rates, need to go somewhere, and just like they did in the past they will cause rising prices and rising production. The fact is, and history confirms, that if the U.S. stays the course and continues to irrationally tax and spend, then inflation is the inevitable outcome.
The problem with taxing the top 1% of earners who already pay 40.5% of income taxes is that it could send them away. There are many beautiful places where rich Americans could potentially move to lower their tax rates. Australia, Canada, Greece, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, India, British Virgin Islands and even France all have tax codes that could potentially save millions for wealthy Americans willing to swap passports. Just like the story of “The bird, the worm and the man,” which my minister once told to illustrate how our character can be eroded, it also can illustrate the issues when a country’s wealthiest decide to take flight because they just can’t give one more feather.
The key, then, is to grow the taxpayer group that does not fall in the top 1% of earners. We tend to label them “middle class.” They are the professionals, entrepreneurs, craftsmen, managers and builders who make a decent living, educate their kids in their trade or a new one, support their schools and their communities, vote, and work hard. I think President Obama would coin them “the responsible Americans” if he could, but he can’t for fear of offending those who wish to say they are victims who the system failed.
I do believe that even those who resent the wealthy of our society would agree that we can’t have a healthy economy built on getting 40.5% of our income from 1% of our citizens. We also can’t use the wealthy as a metric for measuring success, because the solution lies in growing our economy from the grassroots of the middle class, while discouraging the “victim class” from thinking that it is acceptable to live off welfare, collect unemployment and sustain themselves through government assistance. When I was younger, one of my teachers said, “In a democracy we have no freedoms, only responsibilities.” So I like it every time President Obama says the word “responsibility.”
How will we get there? And where is “there”? I think it is where we have balanced budgets and people feeling that they are part of the political process, where we all feel like we should pick up a piece of trash in our park or on the street, and where pride and responsibility are balanced. After the floods in New Orleans I heard a news interview where a man in an unemployment line was asked why he was there and not in line at a fast food chain that was offering bonuses just to get workers. He replied, “I ain’t flipping no hamburgers.” I know we have gone too far in entrenching an entitled welfare class, which is not helpful in any economy. The rich and those blessed with a job and security, however, must not feel entitled either. From Luke 12:48 there is a statement that says, “to whom much is given, much is expected.” Governments cannot create income or wealth it is left up to us as individuals to make our own way.
So Much Room for Optimism
We have deep structural problems in America; our system has worked for some and not for others. But it is still unclear how we will create jobs and get the economy going. We have allowed Americans to feel entitled. Entitled to not work for a day’s wage, entitled to stay home and receive sustenance from welfare. We have taken the spirit from some of our citizens. We have grown a giant military industrial complex that is wasteful and expensive and seems to answer to no one in our country. We have overspent and been wasteful through laziness, apathy, ignorance and good intentions.
What we are seeing now in America’s political process is acknowledgment of the issues. The process to fix the issues is what ails us. We are continuously slowed down by special interests, politics, differences of opinions and the fact that we think government needs to solve the problem. We will have trouble agreeing on what the problems are. We will also have trouble agreeing that we should do something about the problems. Some believe the brother-in-law who has a problem with drugs and alcohol should be ignored – others think the family should act to help him. In America, we have some who think that simply admitting we have a problem is “un-American.”
Regardless of the issues I am still optimistic. As a country we have lots of feathers, we will be wiser in their use, and history shows we solve our problems. We are one of the richest, prosperous countries, and we are blessed to have these types of problems. I can think of few countries I would want to swap problems with. Many of us get to worry about taxes and inflation rather than where our next meal will come from or where we will sleep tonight.
Thanksgiving season will soon be upon us. It is truly a unique American holiday that makes me proud to be an American. It is a holiday where we can be grateful and give thanks . . . now that is a reason for optimism.
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