John Creighton

February 19th, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches

Tags: Democracy, Public Leaders

“[W]e are at a point right now where it doesn’t make a damn whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican if you’ve forgotten you’re an American.”

- Alan Simpson

Amen!

Alan Simpson is one of the first members of the political class I’ve heard talk like a grown up in a long time.  I am hopeful that the former Republican Senator from Wyoming and his Democratic counterpart, Erskine Bowles, can help our country have adult conversations about the fiscal challenges facing our country.  Mr. Simpson and Mr. Bowles are co-chairs of the newly formed National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

Mr. Simpson and Mr. Bowles made clear in interviews with the New York Times and National Public Radio that the actions required to correct our fiscal imbalances will not be easy.  Entitlement programs considered too sacred to touch must be changed and/or eliminated.  But, cutting programs will not be enough.  Simply put, there is not the political will to eliminate or reduce government to a size that will restore fiscal order.  As a nation, we are going to have to pay more taxes.  Or, as Mr. Simpson said repeatedly, pass the bill on to our grandchildren.

Mr. Simpson and Mr. Bowles have solid records as people who are willing to deal with fiscal challenges like grown ups.  Mr. Simpson was part of the Republic leadership team that ushered in the era of low taxes during the Reagan Administration.  But, it was a different Republican party in those days.  In the 1980s, Republican leaders were willing, with President Reagan’s blessings, to raise taxes when necessary to keep federal deficits under control.  Mr. Bowles, as chief of staff to President Clinton, worked with a Republican Congress to engineer a package of budget reforms and tax increases that enabled the federal government to operate in the black.

We all know that we’re headed for a financial cliff.  Mr. Simpson made this point, too, when he said, “There isn’t a single sitting member of Congress — not one — that doesn’t know exactly where we’re headed.”  Voters know it, too.  Yet, much of the political class and the voting class choose to ignore the realities we face.

The political class acts like a group of petulant teenagers locked in an endless game of who’s to blame.  The liberals say conservatives are to blame.  Conservatives blame the liberals.  Watch cable TV for more than 15 minutes and there’s a good chance you’ll hear two members of Congress shout at each other the equivalent of, “It’s your fault.”  “No, yours.”  I sit and watch in horror wondering where is the leadership?

Liberals and Democratic leaders refuse to acknowledge that Americans want to live in a low tax nation.  They continue to compare the United States to European nations and say, “We should be more like them.”  We can’t.  Americans will not tolerate a high tax system characteristic of many European nations.  That’s why Democratic candidates for office seldom, if ever, mention taxes on the campaign trail.  Their pollsters make it clear that pro-tax is a losing strategy.  But, Democratic office holders refuse to deal with the implications of voters’ desires to keep taxes low.  They refuse to deal with the reality that programs must be cut.

The conservatives who have taken control of the Republican party are no better.  They continue to sell the sell the American people a fraudulent bill of goods.  Republicans are more than happy to cut taxes.  But, as Mr. Simpson pointed out about his fellow party members, when Republicans controlled Congress they made little or no effort to cut spending.  Favoring spending cuts is good politics.  Making cuts, not so much.  I’m sure their pollsters tell them so.  Perhaps that’s why Republicans continue to run on an anti-tax platform with promises to root out waste, fraud and abuse – which prove to be as elusive as Osama Bin Laden when Republicans hold office.

We voters must take our share of the responsibility for the fix we’re in.  It’s true that our political leaders are not upfront with us.  They don’t believe we’re capable of having grown up conversations.  Their pollsters tell them we’re not.  Maybe their pollsters are right.  We keep voting for people who tell us what we want to hear rather than people who tell it to us straight.

It is too bad we have to turn to a 78 year-old veteran of World War II to help us face up to reality.  But, thank goodness Mr. Simpson is willing to do it.  And, thank goodness for Mr. Bowles, too.

It’s high time we have grown up conversations.  Mr. Simpson and Mr. Bowles are ready.  The question is, are we?

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John Creighton writes on community life and public leadership at johncr8on.com.  He can be found on Twitter @johncr8on and onFacebook.