Former Vice President Dick Cheney once said that deficits don’t matter. He uttered what many Republicans practice in private, but usually rail against in public. What he meant to say is that deficits don’t matter under Republican administrations, but they are devastating under Democratic administrations.
Now, that President Obama’s $3.8 trillion budget is out there, the predictable hand-wringing by Republicans begins anew. And, Obama is burnishing his “hawk” credentials by increasing the military budget by 3.4 percent from $530.8 billion to $548.9 billion. Naturally, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with gobble up another $159.3 billion. To Republicans this amounts to a gutting of the military.
It’s amazing to realize that the deficit will reach nearly $1.6 trillion, the third year in a row that it’s been over a trillion. President Clinton left President George W. Bush a budget surplus in 2001. My, how times have changed.
The deficit business really accelerated under President Reagan when he cut the top tax rate from 60 percent to 40 percent, but then amplified spending by borrowing with no plan to ever pay it back. Yes, he did raise taxes, but on those on the bottom and middle tiers of the tax spectrum. Consequently, the deficit soared and the country partied on.
Many Americans took Reagan’s cue about borrowing and spending by borrowing and spending themselves. If the government isn’t worried about debt, why should anyone else.
Now, as usual, we here talk about “living within our means.” What this means is for government/corporations to borrow most of the capital available out there, while everyone else must scrimp and save, as if they haven’t been scrimping and saving.
Banks and “investment” firms are spending so freely on themselves, through bonuses, that they don’t even have any money left for their stock investors.
The system depends on the rubes (most common citizens) to rein in their spending, pay their mortgages and credit card bills so that this pyramid scheme can keep growing. As we do, government and, mainly, corporations, laugh at us. Once we realize we can act as irresponsibly as government and corporations do, the system will truly collapse.
Of course, banks accused middle and lower class Americans of racking up debts through spending on flat-panel TVs, iPhones and dining out. So, they had the bankruptcy laws re-written to prevent Americans from walking away from such credit card debts. However, credit card default is mostly triggered by spending on health care, because we don’t have universal health care. This meant that while health insurance companies passed out their bonuses for denying coverage, millions of Americans went bankrupt.
And today, I paid another government bill for “stormwater service” that amounts to $48 a year and was assessed on all households. This caused no belly-aching from the usual quarters (the daily newspaper, builders/real estate associations) because it pushed the cost away from the people who are causing the need for this fee – the developers. There is no stormwater service in Bend because there is no stormwater piping system. No, this money helps subsidize developers.
Also, this weekend, I ate an early dinner at the new Olive Garden restaurant in Bend. At 4 p.m., the place was swamped and the wait for a table was 45 minutes. It took about 25 minutes, but still, we’re in the middle of the Great Recession. What was everyone (or I) doing there? We’re still living it up, because, afterall, deficits don’t matter.
Our waiter said about 110 people work there throughout the day. In all, about 165, mostly part-timers, work there making between $8.40 to $11 an hour, plus tips. I wonder what kind of tax break Olive Garden got for creating so many jobs. Afterall, Facebook will receive $2.8 million a year in tax breaks for opening a data center, with 35 employees, in Prineville next year. Well, Olive Garden didn't get such a break because they didn't create "family wage" jobs.
The Bulletin, the daily newspaper, did note this past weekend in an article titled, “The Facebook Effect,” that one other company inquired to the state about relocating here and, presumably, getting a similar, or better, tax break than Facebook got. The article did say that Facebook will pay about $110,000 as a “community fee,” plus lesser city fees. The “Facebook Effect” is so amazing that the company even joined the local Chamber of Commerce. It also had a Bend restaurant cater its Jan. 21 announcement event.
Can we all feel the end of the recession now?
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