A short excursion into my serious thinking by me I know many of you Facebook citizens think of me as a staunch democrat, but Im going to let you in a little secret. I dont always vote that way. I am relatively liberal when it comes to the treatment of others, but my own personal lifestyle is just about as conservative as they come. Having preambled about my confusing personality, let me state why Im writing tonight. This week and last, weve observed a spectacle unmatched in United States history. Two branches of our government, executive and legislative, have tussled over the budget and argued back and forth about whether to raise our debt ceiling. Neither side has boosted their standing in the eyes of the people they serve. In fact, both parties have suffered a black eye. The only difference is in the level of severity. It is my position that we need to act responsibly as a nation. We must pay off the debts we have incurred. We shouldnt pay off these debts on the backs of the poor and destitute among us, but we probably need to make some tough decisions nonetheless. I know some of you will respond to this post with your opinions of the sacrifices that need to be made. Some of you will say the Affordable Care Act (ACA) needs to be scrapped. Others will say we need to cut down our military spending. Perhaps both sides of the argument have some merit. I dont think it would be wise at this point to scrap the ACA. Our health insurance providers have already set their prices based on the provisions of that legislation. To destroy it now would imperil a significant portion of our economy. Last time I checked, the healthcare industry was fully 1/6 of our economy. I think the best way forward is to adjust the ACA as we discover its shortcomings, and we will surely find them. We need to be flexible enough to change the law when it will benefit the American people. As for military spending, we have to think realistically. One one hand, our enemies are constantly looking for ways to undermine our national security. One of the key concepts of the U.S. Constitution is for Congress to levy taxes and for the sake of our security. In case youre wondering where that is, see Section VIII. We must evolve with the threat if we want to preserve our liberties, but that doesnt mean we have to go to war. Preemptive wars and provocations are not a fitting way to use the overwhelming force we possess. Aside from the harm to noncombatants and the loss of life, the cost of war is well beyond our means to afford beyond one or two fronts for a short duration of time. We are still paying for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and these payments will continue to drain our budget for the rest of our lives and well beyond. Entitlement spending is a problem. I dont mean food stamps or welfare. These programs are only a tiny portion of our budget. Moreover, the people who take advantage of these programs often work. Some of them are in our military. Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare are viewed as entitlements, but they are necessary entitlements. The talk about death panels always amazed me. How can we talk about death panels in the ACA, when we want to do away with programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare? You want to talk about abandoning the people who need us most? That would be throwing them to the wolves. Just the same, we can implement reasonable reforms in these entitlement programs that eliminate fraud, waste and abuse. There is always room for improvement with the implementation of any program. Part of the key to this problem is integrating our databases so that we can eliminate islands of information that effectively hide these problems. Cleansing and deduplicating (Yeah, thats a real word.) data would go a long way toward an efficient implementation of health and human services. Toward the end of my first enlistment in the Air Force, Ronald Reagan began to crack down on fraud, waste and abuse in the military. I remember a program that rewarded military personnel for suggesting ways to make our operations more efficient. It was during that era that the Air Force identified hammers and toilet seats that were outrageously expensive. Similarly, there are programs today that could be trimmed or made more efficient with absolutely no harm to our mission. We need to watch out for contractors that stick it to the taxpayers, and thats not a joke. It happens all too frequently. As with health and human services, I think part of the answer is relational databases that share information across organizations. I have to admit, however, that I dont really know the answers. I just have an opinion, and thats all this entry is: an opinion. I admit I am often extremely short sighted and suffer tunnel vision. Thats why Im sure someone will help me see beyond my narrow field of vision before the night is out. Just the same, I think we need to realize something. No party has all the answers. The democrats dont have all the answers and neither do the republicans. Thats why they need to work together for everyones good, and we need to insist they do a better job of it. Its not responsible for us to default on our financial obligations. Those calling for Congress to let us go into default are playing with fire, and I dont appreciate them putting our United States Constitution at risk. They may not realize what they are doing, but in the end it will not matter. We must stand up and insist that our lawmakers do the right thing. That includes both sides of the house as well as the legislative and executive branches. Surely, with so much at stake and so many intelligent people, we can craft a compromise that works for every American. Finally, why are continuing resolutions (CRs) and sequestrations necessary? Why cant we pass a budget that will make sense? This isnt about who is right or who is wrong. Its about all of us.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 01:13:01 +0000
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