The spending cuts being planned in our state, and probably in other states as well, are not going to be accepted very well by most people who live here. Since income from our tax base is decreased by unemployment and the poor economy, our revenues are not going to be what was once expected. Now we are looking at a $9.3 billion deficit. The Money coming into the state from the Recovery Program is not going to be enough to meet this greater need. Our state is determined to have a balanced budget. Therefore, our legislators are planning cuts in spending.
One of our local news sources says this:
From kindergarten to the university campus, public schools would be hit hard in a package of massive spending cuts unveiled Monday by the state Senate’s majority Democrats.
Those teachers and students aren’t alone. In the Legislature’s first run at solving an estimated $9.3 billion deficit, Senate budget writers also slashed spending on health care, social services, prisons and state parks.
If enacted as-is, the Senate plan would add about 7,000 public sector layoffs to Washington’s already heavy load of unemployed workers. Parks could be sold, a small prison would be shuttered and some disabled people would lose their health care, officials said.
Since there are those who see taxes as “punishment” and yell and holler whenever anyone even hints at raising taxes, the only way to have a balanced budget is to cut services. I think this is a sad state of affairs. For one thing, our state has a very regressive tax system in the first place. We don’t have a state income tax, so we tax everything else. This kind of tax is a harder burden on the poor than would be a state income tax, but the rich don’t care about that. So, we probably will never have a state income tax. Rich people always have more influence over our representatives than do poor people. I just hope they don’t start taxing food again.
Instead of good answers to real problems what I see a lot of in our state is finger pointing and name-calling as people seek to assign blame. A lot of time and energy is spent on looking backwards and assigning blame, not in order to learn from past mistakes, but only in order to score political points. Again, I don’t think this is true only in our state. The citizens of this country are simply no good at getting together to find solutions. We are not practical. We are far too political. We treat running our country like a football game, with an eye to winning or losing the political game, rather than a concern and care for the common good of all our citizens. In fact now-a-days it seems like the two political parties are at war, with the age old credo that “all is fair in war.” In other words, lies, innuendos and misdirection is perfectly okay — just win the political war! I hate it. I especially hate it now when we are in crisis.
From what I have heard from President Obama, he would like to be practical and pragmatic, and do whatever it takes to fix the economy, raise up the middle class (mostly small business owners), and bring justice to the workplace. However, he is finding out there is opposition to nearly everything as he tries to accomplish in this atmosphere of political gaming. All you have to do is read what Rush Limbaugh says — continuing to call for the failure of this presidency — to know that for some the country comes a far second to winning the political war.
I’m going to share my own little conspiracy theory with you. During the Bush years I began to wonder what was going on. It seemed that his administration was spending money as fast and as quickly as possible. The mounting deficit caused not only by the two wars, but also by the tax cuts for the wealthy, was of no concern whatsoever to the party in power — the republicans. At that time I wondered what they meant by fiscal responsibility. Then something clicked: an ah-hah moment. The neo-conservatives have been seeking ways to undo all the social programs that came about during the New Deal. (Social Darwinists hate social programs, by the way) There is a way to get rid of social programs, and that is to run the country into debt so that we can’t afford the programs. And sure enough — that’s what they have attempted to do!
Now that the country has been run into debt, and the economy has been broken, the neo-cons can at the least prevent more social programs from being put into place, and have an argument for undoing those programs that already exist (cut spending!). They can rant and rave about the rising debt, and demand that something be done, now that it serves their purpose. There is also this: recessions that cause unemployment, housing losses, and human desparation are the perfect field for the wealthy to harvest even more wealth. This is sad but true.
It is time to think of the common good again. Raise taxes on those who can easily — very easily — afford it so we can generate more revenue for the common good. We need to get away from the notion that taxes are either a punishment or a reward. Taxes are simply the way each one of us contributes to the common pot that benefits all of us. Those who are wealthy actually use more of the common goods than do the poor, so they should not mind paying more into the common pot.
It is time to stop being a borrow and spend country, and become an “each contribute our fair share” and spend country. As a real estate professional, it is very important to me to see that our economy is put back on an even keel, that the middle class increases, and that justice is brought into the workplace. In good times for all of us, we sell more houses.
Tags: conspiracy theory, Political, regressive tax system, social darwinists, spending cuts, taxes
