I’ve been watching news about the nation’s sinking economy with increased interest in recent months, and I’ve gradually become less and less optimistic about the situation.
It’s not the increases in the prices of gas and food that worry me most. It’s the systemic problems that are leading to such symptoms. Instead of addressing the root causes of such problems, I fear that our nation’s leaders are making only superficial attempts to ease the symptoms.
The current crisis began with home mortgages. But the problems run much deeper than that. We are a nation whose federal government has led Americans by its own example into a culture of reckless spending. Our federal government isn’t required to balance its budget, and it doesn’t even come close.
Our federal government deficit spends, and it has taught Americans to do the same. But there’s so much more that is stacking up right now to create a situation that I fear has the potential to get a lot worse.
• The blank-check mentality has created a federal government rife with waste. Republicans might in principle oppose big government, but they’re just as guilty as Democrats in allowing the federal government to grow into a black hole for taxpayer dollars. Neither party is seriously working to balance the budget.
• Congressional earmarks are way out of control. These pork projects Congress approves with little public scrutiny are sometimes valid and important, and other times a complete waste of money. That’s why sunshine is so important. Again, this isn’t a partisan problem. It’s a
• The
• The nation’s infrastructure is in serious need of repair. This is one area where spending probably needs to be increased, perhaps significantly, for the good of the American economy. That’s not currently possible because spending is so far out of control in other areas.
• Our addiction to foreign oil has blinded us to fiscal responsibility and morality. We’re borrowing money from
Spend, spend, spend
And the current media blitz is about how Americans need to buy new televisions because of the switch to digital signals. Most rebate checks will be used to boost retail sales for a few weeks.
Then what? That’s not a solution.
The Federal Reserve has taken some steps to lower interest rates at an almost record pace and help financial institutions in other ways. But all that does is encourage more lending. In other words, it’s encouraging Americans to bury themselves under more debt.
What ever happened to frugality? Have we forgotten how to be responsible with our money? Have we dug ourselves such a deep hole that we can’t see our way out of it? That we can’t even see that we’re deep in a hole?
Other factors
It seems to me that there are a couple of other coming changes that could have a big impact on our economy. Congress and the president are likely to reform the nation’s immigration system in the next few years and lessen or eliminate the illegal work force upon which the American economy has become dependent. That’s going to drive up prices in many areas, including food and construction.
Think of it this way: How much will the price of grapes increase when the person picking them is paid minimum wage instead of a much lower, under-the-table amount?
The other possible change that would further affect the economy is a revision of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Many American companies’ profit expectations are dependent on their ability to pay cheap wages and avoid environmental and other regulations in third-world countries. For moral reasons, we should revise NAFTA, just like we need to reform our immigration system, but the changes will be felt in our economy.
My biggest disappointment is that I don’t hear any of the presidential candidates, or any of
I don’t know how bad things are going to get, but I know this: An individual can’t continue to spend beyond his or her means. The home-mortgage crisis proves that. What makes the American government believe it can continue to spend money it doesn’t have?
A version of this article was published today on the Diary of a Mad Voter blog published by the Denver Post’s Politics West and the independent Web site NewWest.net.