Country headed in the wrong direction
In a recent letter from Senator Rick Santorum thanking me for my expressed concern about the nonstop and unchecked growth of our national debt, he replied he agrees and shares my opinion, then proceeded to present his explanation for it’s continuance. Nothing really new. Pretty much the same old, tired political rhetoric we have been hearing from both major political parties on a regular basis. He did, however, get my undivided attention, when he praised the introduction of S1932, the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005. He attributed a large portion of the growing deficit to the nation’s entitlement programs. He claims S1932 will reduce the deficit by $39.1 billion over the next five years and $109 billion over the next 10 years. He went on to say these savings are increasingly important, as federal entitlement programs are projected to account for 20 percent of our nation’s gross domestic product by 2038. Furthermore, he stated, it is essential to reform our nation’s entitlement programs, which account for an increasingly larger percentage of our nation’s annual spending. What he failed to mention at all are several items of equal economy and stability of this country, particularly as we continue to reduce spending on our nation’s entitlement programs.
1. Forty-six million Americans, or 15.7 percent of the population, are without any health insurance and are one trip to the hospital away from bankruptcy.
2. Currently 35.9 million, or 12.5 percent of us, live below the poverty level and an additional 54 million (near poor) live just slightly above the poverty level.
3. American corporations have exported 587,592 of the better paying jobs abroad in the last five years, according to the Department of Labor. This removes a lot of dollars from our economy in terms of lost sales and revenue, plus additional service jobs.
4. Illegal or undocumented aliens are suppressing wages seriously throughout the USA. Illegals, as well as terrorists, need only walk across our borders. No solution appears to be in sight here.
5. Between 1982 and 2004, median earnings of fully employed U.S. citizens grew by a mere 2.7 percent, about as close as possible to absolute stagnation, over a span of 22 years. During that same period of time, the national debt has grown by a whopping $6,181,979,696,330.
6. Our trade deficit in 2005 was $725.8 billion, a 17.5 percent increase over 2004, or $617.6 billion, our previous highest one. Also worth noting, the 2005 trade deficit equals 5.8 percent of our gross domestic product, up from 5.3 percent in 2004, and 4.5 percent in 2003. A very bad trend in progress.
7. And finally, let’s not overlook the military expenditures. According to a report issued by the CIA, the amount of money to be spent by the entire world governments was projected to be $950 billion in 2004. The rest of the world, excepting the USA, spent $500 billion. The USA surpassed its estimate. The year-end financial statement reported we actually spent $649.8 billion. In fiscal 2005, the USA increased out military spending to $703.9 billion. In 2005 we really spent 22.2 percent of our total expenditures (22.2 cents of every dollar spent) by the defense department. One word describes this action perfectly – outrageous!
Items 1 through 6 are either the cause or the results of the pressure being applied to the shrinking middle class. This trend shows no sign of moderating; therefore more and more American workers are apt to slip into poverty. The American dream is slowly, but surely, at risk of becoming an American nightmare. As we continue down this road, a greater, not lesser requirement will be placed upon all of the nation’s entitlement programs. I seem to recall reading in a history book that “hungry peasants” refute the idea of “eating cake.” Some serious “food’ for thought, senator.
How can we, in good conscience, reduce spending on our most needy and most vulnerable citizens while at the same time, increase our defense department spending by 7 percent, as requested by President G.W. Bush? It is, in my opinion, morally indefensible and will ultimately lead to some major civil unrest. It appears as through President Eisenhower was absolutely correct when he expressed serious concerns about the “military industrial complex” taking over our economy. While “Ike” was president, he reduced the military budget and launched the largest domestic program ever, our interstate highway system. He was truly a man of great vision. His administration was the last one to actually pay down a portion of the national debt. While we had a small surplus in the last year of W. Clinton’s last term, none was applied to paying it down. GWB saw to that.
The time has come to rethink our national strategy. A large majority of our leaders are living in a “card board reality.” The military industrial complex has succeeded and all Americans are losers. Yes, Senator Santorum, we have finally met the enemy, and he is us.
Robert E. Workman is a resident of Connellsville.