Article Contributed on: 2/6/2009 9:59:02 AM
As President Obama works to get through a stimulus package, it becomes increasingly clear that the habits of eight years of ideological partisanship have taken their toll. Even those who started out with the best of intentions, certain that they could win over the other side when the economic futures of the American people were at stake, are now picking a corner to return to during their bouts, and listening to the coaching after each bell to get back into the familiar pattern of punching, counter punching, and dodging. If it really were boxing, we, the audience might find it amusing (at least those of us with a taste for the turbulent), but this fight is for our future, and the contenders (both sides fighting in our name), don't seem to even notice our presence.
Granted, the stakes are high, and the problem is complex, but some kind of détente would seem to be in order. It appears to be more important to have a high-stakes, all-or-nothing bout over the stimulus package (delaying all other work by Congress while it does so), than to get the things passed that everyone agrees on. Why isn't it possible to just separate the items that both sides agree will create jobs and have an immediate effect on the economy and pass those? People are out of work, trying to stay in their homes, fearing for the future, because no jobs are out there, but still, even the agreed-upon items can't be passed -- because you can't grandstand your ideology that way.
Some folks say that you can't fight wars unless you truly understand your enemy. We've been fighting doctrinaire ideologues from the outer fringes of Islam for many years now. We are beginning to resemble them. We are just as obdurate, just as unwilling to compromise, just as holier-than-thou, as those we've been condemning for their willingness to do anything to further their ideologies. We don't send folks out with explosives strapped to their chest, but we stand by and watch people lose their homes and watch their families struggle, and see the young people for whom college is no longer an option, but we still aren't willing to act in the areas that will help right now, all because our ideology is more important than their ideology, and we need to fight out that battle in full public view so everyone sees a "winner" and a "loser."
We need to break these ideological chains. The only principle, and we have been confusing principle with ideology for some time, to which the Congress has taken an oath, is to follow the Constitution. Had they done so, and stayed out of areas they were never intended to operate in, corporations would not have gotten in the habit of tempting elected officials into following their agendas, instead of the peoples' agendas. Those obligated to monitor and protect us would have done so before things got out of hand. Now it seems, one ideology dictates we must all be getting Federal money in order to survive, something the founders of our country would have found repulsive at best.
There ARE things that can be done now, but the big stimulus package, which we are assured, will not be allowed to have pork amended to it (there's no need - some of it's already in the bill itself), is not what's going to help.
Want something that will immediately stimulate the economy, with one quick vote? Let everyone keep their income taxes for one year. Worried that will put the CPAs and the lawyers out of business? Make everyone still file the income tax forms, so you have the info, but tell them they get to keep the amount they would have had to pay. Those who have money to spend will spend it, or put it in the struggling banks, thus helping the economy; those struggling with their mortgages will have a little more and can stay solvent for longer.
But no, this option would not be considered. It has no photo ops or grandstanding opportunities. And it's unlikely our ever-spending Federal bureaucracy (now fully engaged in every state's business after 8 years of creating dependencies on the Federal government, so that the threat of losing Federal money would keep them all in line) could manage to tighten its belt as the citizens all have had to do.
We let a lot of this happen, by not holding our elected representatives accountable to their constitutional obligations, by not taking the time to see what they were up to, by happily jumping on one or the other of the ideological bandwagons and refusing to listen to anything said by the other side. We help to create this bipolar, dysfunctional government. Now we are paying the price.
Let's see if they really want us to succeed. See what happens if you tell your representatives you want to keep your income taxes this year as a stimulus to the economy. But don't hold your breath...