Sacrifice for Future (1/10/2002)
by Dean Hartwell
President Bush
recently said that he would accept higher taxes "over [his] dead
body." Given that Congress will soon likely raise our debt level and many
economists say that Bush will not likely balance the budget, it is hard to
fathom how his inflexibility on taxes will help anyone.
Bush characterizes cutting taxes as a sort of entitlement for the public.
During the campaign, he said that in a Bush Administration, there would be
"tax cuts, so help me God." He also said he wanted to use the surplus
to give back to the people, because it was "their money."
I advocate in Truth Matters that our leaders ask the public for
sacrifice. In the absence of the willingness of the people to give as well as
take, our nation will lose its ability to solve long-term problems. If the
trend of deficit spending, caused in part by tax reductions, continues, how
will the United States afford interest payments on the debt? How will it afford
the ability to assert its military strength the way it has in Afghanistan? How
will it afford grants, loans and tuition reductions for those who cannot afford
a college education?
Bush ought to keep these kinds of priorities in mind when making his policies.
I hope that in his second year as our president to hear more about our need to
sacrifice so that future generations can manage their debt and less about the
need for tax cuts.