I don’t watch much television, but I keep seeing a commercial for U.S. Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse. First, isn’t it a bit early? The election is over 18 months from now. Second, claims this ad make are misleading.
The commercial says they voted to cut spending $5 Trillion, repeal Obama care (over 50 times now), and balance the budget. The key word is “voted”, because none of this legislation will be adopted. Worse, when they and their colleagues voted for it, they knew that. It’s showboat legislation.
Showboat legislation leads to more gridlock. Combined with excessive (and super early) political commercials it turns voters off, and gives non-voters more reasons to hate politics.
What we really need in Congress is leadership. Genuine legislative leaders know that the only way to pass meaningful fiscal policy requires bi-partisanship. The economy has strengthened and is still improving, but it took longer than any other recovery since the Depression. It could have happened sooner with better fiscal policy, and less gridlock.
The best approach to fiscal policy is a comprehensive one. Many failures in fiscal policy are the result of trying to solve problems piecemeal. Good fiscal policy starts with good strategy, and includes clear goals and objectives. The primary goal should be prosperity with low inflation, and the focus on long-term, not short-term objectives. Economic policies also need to be predictable and consistent, so that people and businesses can plan with confidence.
We’re still spending too much. The sequester is helping, but it’s no way to plan or conduct fiscal policy. We need a truly bi-partisan approach to not only balance the budget, but to stop the bleeding from growing entitlement programs. Failure to control huge costs from these programs will eventually lead to significant cuts in all other parts of the budget – threatening our national security and our economic well-being.
Since we’ve run up such a huge national debt the past 14 years, we need to start paying it down. I was in favor of the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan, and still believe we need something like it. Our comprehensive fiscal policy must include a 25-50 year approach to begin reducing the massive debt and effectively revamp entitlement programs. Using such a gradual approach will help us accomplish these goals without disrupting the economy. Most importantly, it will stop our disgraceful borrowing from future generations, and protect the full faith and credit of the U.S.
We also need to reform the tax code in a progressive, pro-growth manner. In addition to keeping tax rates low, we must keep the tax system as simple as possible. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 would be a good model to use as a starting point – fewer tax brackets and lower rates for everyone. But it should also include phasing out most tax deductions and credits, which mostly benefit the wealthy.
If we can put this kind of fiscal discipline in place it will: Promote sustainable economic growth like we had in the last two decades of the twentieth century; build some flexibility back into our fiscal and monetary systems (we’re currently about out of economic bullets); reduce worries of future financial calamities; allow us to re-invest in education and infrastructure, both of which are vital to the economy and help the middle class prosper; and permit us to promote research in science, medicine, and engineering – the very things that lead to life-saving and life-enhancing innovations, and stoke the fires of entrepreneurship which is critical to driving a growing and robust economy.
Now is the time to do this, with the wind of a growing economy at our backs, and before the election year of 2016. This is why we need better leadership in Congress – leadership that is not so partisan or ideological. Leadership means putting national interests ahead of personal and party interests.
Leadership isn’t easy, and may mean making unpopular decisions. It requires lots of hard work, courage, respect for others, open-mindedness, sacrifice, and compromise. But leadership helps us prosper, and keeps us safe and secure. A lack of leadership leads to distrust, disquiet, and dissatisfaction.
We need people in Congress who are willing to accept the responsibility that comes with true leadership. Being a member of Congress should be a high calling, and if Congress can start doing its job again, it might start to win back the respect of the country. But it will take leadership, not misleadership, to get there.
Here are some links to past blogs that are related to this blog:
Deficit reduction:
http://www.commonsensecentrist.com/passing-the-buck-really-big-bucks-2/
Reducing the size of the Federal Government:
http://www.commonsensecentrist.com/can-the-gordian-knot-be-untied/
Ideas for a more functional Congress:
http://www.commonsensecentrist.com/wanted-courage-in-the-congress/