The Sky is Falling

This morning, the monthly gathering young of young (and young at heart) Nashville progressives called the Kitchen Cabinet, was treated to a presentation by Rep. Jim Cooper -- the basic gist of which is that our generation is collectively ******.

Rep. Cooper laid out a presentation that he has given to various editorial boards, including the NYTimes and Wallstreet Journal, which says that our annual budget deficit is not $130Bn, rather $3T when standard marketplace accounting procedures are put into place. Also, without drastic changes in our Medicaid/Medicare and Social Security programs, we could see the tax rate as a percentage of our GDP rise drastically over the next 10-20 years, and see our bond rating slip below AAA status.

While the problems are fairly clear, the solutions presented were somewhat opaque. Even if the Government adopts standard accounting procedures when listing the budget deficit; that doesn't change the fact that the budget deficit exists. Short of drastic changes in our medical policy (and not just slight changes to the way people buy private health insurance, as is offered by the two Democratic candidates), its hard to see any short term solution to the medicare/medicaid problem. Short of raising the retirement age for social security (and returning it to what it was intended; an old age and disability insurance program) its hard to see any great fixes for that program either.

Unfortunately, the implicit need expressed by Congressman Cooper to fix our fiscal calamity is to have an engaged, far-sighted electorate as opposed to the passive, myopic voters we have now. We have all sorts of politicians who talk a good game when it comes to spending, but when it gets down to making tough choices, most are found wanting. Perhaps this is a problem inherent within a democratic republic. Politicians are making decisions based on the 'feelings' of their constituents rather than hard-headed statistical data. As an example, China wouldn't dare think about mothballing a multi-billion dollar project like Yucca Mountain because a few local residents had irrational fears...yet in our system of government if enough people have irrational fears, they are then justified by political leaders who put re-election above the good of our nation as a whole.

Also, in terms of military expenditures, we spend more than nearly all other countries in the world combined. And compared to our perceived threats (countries like North Korea, Iran, Cuba, and Syria) we spend almost 47 times as much. Why do we need new weapons systems every year when the ones we currently have are vastly superior to our allies, and exponentially superior to our enemies? Simple, because we want to maximize our killing efficiency while minimizing risk to troops. That means we'll always have the desire for new and better toys...not to mention the defense contractors who lobby Congress to have their toys built and purchased.

Similarly, groups like the AARP are opposed to addressing many of the problems inherent in our current system, and yet because senior citizens are the most energized voting block in American politics, most political leaders are afraid to go against this powerful lobbying group.

Ultimately, knowing all the problems we have, it is hard to imagine a solution that doesn't first involve the total collapse of our country. The great depression (and following World War) strengthened the resolve of an entire generation of Americans. It's unfortunate, but something similar might be required to wake up our current society to the dangers of fiscal recklessness. Or perhaps simply (though it wouldn't be simple at all) resetting the US Code and starting from scratch every 10 or 20 years would help us clean up some of our programs and policies to make it more efficient and streamlined.