It’s been a long and crazy road to these midterm elections with lots of rhetoric and lots of ridiculous commercials. However, now it’s time to have a moment of seriousness before we go to the polls in less than two weeks.
Speaking of seriousness, this is the one quality the Tea Party and the GOP notably lacks at the moment. For many reasons, we in this country have gotten ourselves into some serious problems, including dependence on foreign oil, dangerous trade imbalances and an inability to meet our financial obligations such as social security and Medicare.
Despite what you hear on TV, these problems did not become problems in January 2009. We have been moving in this direction for a few decades.
The Tea Party and many GOP candidates seem to think “I don’t like taxes” and “I don’t like bailouts” are real campaign platforms — they’re not, by the way. Do some research and see if you can find a single, reputable economist who thinks the bailout was unnecessary. Do some research and find out taxes have decreased for 95 percent of Americans since Obama took office. A recent New York Times poll showed 90 percent of Americans have no idea their taxes were cut.
We need people in government who are going to make tough situations in the face of very tough circumstances. Listening to Republican commercials, you would think the only issue this country is facing is big government.
This is the same government Obama inherited from Bush. It has an executive, legislative and judicial branch. It is responsible for many tasks and those tasks are funded by taxes. The only thing that has changed is GOP strategists have figured out talking about “small government” gets certain voters as excited as a 13-year-old girl at a Justin Bieber concert.
So when you go to the polls, and you’re all angry about health care, bailouts and taxes, remember all responsible economists agreed health care needed swift and aggressive reform to avoid a financially unsustainable situation. Remember the bailouts, while painful, were not only the brainchild of Bush, but were extraordinarily necessary. Remember your taxes and taxes for small businesses have decreased. Make an informed choice. Don’t get excited about hollow and absurd campaign slogans. Vote for serious people.
