The George Bush Republicans promoted big government spending to overstimulate the economy and to buy votes. This resulted in a housing bubble, a false sense of economic security, and unsustainable budget levels. They also created a whole new generation of dysfunctional families and people/corporations that have become dependent upon government spending. The worst thing they did was create a sense that we voters are entitled to our neighbors paychecks. "Entitlement" is a very bad word. It leads to socialism. Socialism has been tried throughout history. It never creates economic well-being that is as good as the free enterprise/capitalism/personal responsibility that built America.
Our creditor nations, particularly China, are now analyzing this debtor nation (The United States of America) to decide if we are viable... if we can pay back our debt without inflating our way out. We can't... not in our present situation.
The Barack Obama Democrats are now building on this Republican mistake, and are "throwing money out of helicopters" in hopes of hiding our nation's core problems. This isn't going to work. This will provide a temporary improvement, but without dealing with our core problems... we will return to our recession once this stimulus money runs out.
We hear politicians explain that the economic meltdown was caused by the housing bubble, by greedy Wall Street investment bankers, or by global warming (I'm kidding on this one...). When these politicians pretend they don't know that Congress caused our present meltdown, we can be sure they won't be capable of coming up with solutions. They must first understand the cause of the problem in order to find solutions. Any politician who will not or cannot analyze and criticize his or her own party's role in creating this problem will not be part of a credible solution.
Eighty-three percent of Americans have a low regard for Congress, and understand that Congress is inept... yet we keep re-electing these guys. Why do we do this? Former House Speaker Tip O'Neill explains it very well: "All politics is local." By this, he means that people will vote their local, personal or special interest over the needs of our nation. Look at the reasons the voter selects his candidate: "He appointed my nephew to the military academy, she hired my daughter to work in her Washington, D.C. office, he attended my son's wedding, she appointed Uncle Charlie to a judgeship, he brought back an appropriation to my industry/trade group, she voted for a special exemption for my company, he found Aunt Selma's lost Social Security check." The list goes on, but the common thread is that these have nothing to do with the running of our country. This is needed constituent work, but should not be the reason we select our politician.
Political consultants just laugh when asked if real national issues matter to voters any more (12 percent of the voters voted for the candidate whose yard sign they last saw... which explains why so many signs are located 201 feet from a voting polling location).
Our forefathers gave us this great nation at extreme personal risk. When we fail to research the issues, or research who our candidate choices are, we thumb our nose at our founders and at the future we should be leaving to our children.
The Tea Party, Libertarians, Alaska Independence Party, nonpartisans, and Green Party voters understand these problems, and are working for positive change.
This is an election year. Our country is in trouble. Don't throw away your vote. Look at the reasons you make your voting choice for national politicians. If it is for any reason other than who can best solve our nation's troubles... you are part of the problem. If your candidate doesn't understand that "it's the economy, stupid," get a different candidate. If your candidate doesn't understand why our country is a mess, or have a plan to fix this mess... get another candidate.
Dave Cuddy is a former bank president and state legislator. He has an economics degree, and a masters degree in business. He presently manages a small film studio and real estate development.
Talk of the Tundra features commentary by Alaskans from across the state. The views expressed are the writers' own and are not endorsed by Alaska Dispatch.