So What is Your Plan?
The Republicans and the “moderate” (I will call them the moron Demos) Democrats are trying to throw a wrench into the Obama budget. Basically they all have a new found fear of deficits. I say new found because they had no problem during the Bush years when the financial industry was humming, doubling the national debt by cutting taxes, but now when we actually need to stimulate and invest in the economy, they are pulling back. I have a basic question for this debate which most people aren’t even thinking about: Exactly what do we make that either our own population or the world markets are going to buy to give us all jobs?
Think about this, because this question is critical to our resurgence as an economic force. Looking back on what the Republicans describe as the good times in the early 2000s, our economy was driven by creating and selling debt to the whole world. It wasn’t sustainable. It wasn’t that great of a time because as the rich got fabulously wealthy, the average guy/gal stagnated. Clearly the way forward is for a vibrant, creative, and competitive economy that can create goods and services that the world wants and provides economic growth across the entire working sector. These jobs are not going to get created out of thin air. So what’s our plan for getting there?
Well right now we are focused on getting our economy back up and running. But an economy based upon what? And this is where the politics and the debate have become almost irrational and self-destructive. President Obama makes the argument that not only do we need to restore our economy with a three point plan (stimulus, banking capitalization, and mortgage reform), but we must make investments in health care, education, and energy in order to have the basis for a vibrant economy. He, along with columnists such as Tom Friedman see green energy as the engine that will drive our economy in the future. But we are not going to get there without investments in our future. This plan is embodied in his budget he submitted to Congress. But the nay sayers are shocked, shocked, shocked at the price tag. So what is the counter argument or Plan B?
Well there isn’t a plan B, just concerns and obstructionism. Probably the most rational argument is the concern over growing the deficit. But being concerned about the deficit is not a plan for getting us to a growing economy again. It reminds me of a conversation I have with my better half all the time about what to have for dinner. I get a whole list of what is not wanted, but not what is wanted so I can plan a meal. Look at this argument another way. What is the alternative to not growing the deficit as we make needed investments in our future? There isn’t one. We solve nothing, we go nowhere, and we kick the can down the road. More importantly we don’t have the discussion about where we are going. Their argument seems to be that we need to get the economy running again before we solve these other problems, but the other problems are a function of our basic problem with the economy. The irrational part of all this obstructionism is that until we fix ourselves and start making investments in our future, there is no future. Yet it would seem that the argument is we can’t afford it and then silence about our future.
Think about it. Well meaning people (well some are) are concerned about running up a debt that could be problematic for our future, but if we don’t make these investments, we won’t have a future. I realize that some ideologues think the market place will solve all problems and we need to let it just run free, but that is exactly what it has done in the past 10 years and the results for this country and the world have been disastrous. So the obvious conclusion is that we can’t afford not to make these investments. We certainly can have debates about the best way to spend this money to get the most bang for the buck, health care comes to mind, but there should be no debate about the fact that we have to make these investments. Saying we can’t afford it is like saying we can afford to prepare for the future and is the beginning of our decline.
This is the part of the discussion that I find almost unreal. Republicans and their moron Demos cohorts who are aiding and abetting them have no real plan for the future. If we do less, eventually things will get better seems to be their belief. But while we are doing less, countries like China will go right by us, if they haven’t already. If they had a plan for our future which would explain how their proposals, including scaling back, limited spending, cutting taxes, not addressing energy, education, or health care, at this time solves any of our problems maybe we could have an honest discussion. Their argument here is we can’t afford it. But the more obvious conclusion here is that what we are seeing is denial. They simply want to kick the can down the road instead of making the hard decisions now. I find this totally irrational and destructive.
So as the flame throwers try to scare you about the budget, the bailout, the deficit, or the stimulus, remember to asked them exactly what is their plan. Just saying no is not responsible criticism. How and what are we going to be doing in the future to be competitive and what is your plan to get us there? Just letting them lob grenades and be obstructionists does nothing to solve our problems and just reduces us to dithering fools.
I am also worried about the deficit, but I know there is no choice. First we need to get the engine pumping, and then we need to invest in ourselves to give the engine something to do. Then once it starts to hum, we need to start paying off our investment. Unlike the Bush years, we need to actually raise taxes to pay off our debts. Personally, I think it will pay for itself and we can’t afford not to believe in ourselves and take the risk. The Republicans and the Moron Demos want you to hide your money in your mattress and wait out the storm. This approach could make the storm last indefinitely. Isn’t it time we let the President take charge and move forward?