Neff Zone Column

Print Edition: September 24, 2005

WE NEED TO PAY OUR OWN BILLS

Your family is on the hook for $26,000 and that number is about to rise. The country’s $8 trillion national debt is actually your debt and with the Katrina disaster and the war in Iraq the sky could be the limit. The administration’s "government by credit card" approach is clearly not working. The theoretical trickle down effect that was supposed to kick in as soon as those rich folks started spending their huge tax cut has not happened. In reality, the trickle is actually a flush and the people standing at the other end of the sewage pipe with their raincoats on are your children and grandchildren because if something isn’t done soon they will be the ones stuck with the tab. Simply put, this generation has to step up and pay our own debts. Tough, though, because balancing the budget would require a 37 percent tax hike for every U.S. household. So, what should we do?

A good start would be figuring out how to pay for the damage from hurricane Katrina. First of all, since the President has promised at least $200 billion in Katrina relief, he should at least appoint a project manager to oversee the spending. Unbelievable as it may seem, at this point there is no "go to" guy in charge of this massive effort, a person at the top of the chain of command who will make sure our money is being properly spent. We can’t leave this to Halliburton and hope for the best.

Second, as the conservative Heritage Foundation suggests, spending cuts need to be made right now to offset the $200 billion. These would include the $44 billion in earmarked political pork from the general fund and recent highway bill, $60 billion in rollbacks from corporations with special tax breaks, and killing the No Child Left Behind Act.

Third, Congress needs to get on board. Incomprehensibly, this week Republican Tom DeLay of Texas said: "I’m willing to cut unneeded spending, but no one is able to come up with any." Here’s a thought, how about axing the $1.5 billion in the energy bill headed for an oil drilling consortium in DeLay’s home district, a slice of pork that the whole world knows is just a gift to his political supporters.

Finally, the President needs to go on TV and spell out for the American people (in specific detail) how we’re going to pay for everything – the war, Katrina, the biggest expansion of government spending in the history of the country. Then he needs to tell us how each citizen will have to play a role, and if sacrifices need to be made and taxes play a part then so be it. Be brave enough to be honest with us. Don’t gild the lily. As Americans, like the President or not, like the situation or not, these are bills this generation needs to pay; passing them off to our children is unconscionable.

Meanwhile back at the ranch…Somewhat related to Katrina, The Guardian, one of England’s largest magazines, ran a story this week about a group of scientists who have recently returned from Siberia. They found an area of permafrost spanning one million square kilometers – the size of France and Germany combined – that has started to melt for the first time in 11,000 years. As it melts it will release billions of tons of methane, a greenhouse gas twenty times more potent than carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere. According to the article, "It is a scenario climate scientists have feared since first identifying "tipping points" - delicate thresholds where a slight rise in the Earth's temperature can cause a dramatic change in the environment that itself triggers a far greater increase in global temperatures…the situation is an "ecological landslide that is… undoubtedly connected to climatic warming. This is a big deal because you can't put the permafrost back once it's gone…If we don't take action very soon, we could unleash runaway global warming that will be beyond our control and it will lead to social, economic and environmental devastation worldwide."

Jim Neff is a local columnist. Comments to neffzone@gmail.com . Read Neff Zone columns online at www.neffzone.com/cadillacnews .