In my opinion one of the tools politicians use is to emphasize small but highly emotional issues so they don’t have to address the big issues of the day.
For instance I read the other day the claim that President Obama was going to “enact the DREAM Act by executive order to give amnesty to 20 million illegal immigrants. This is the FactCheck.org clarification: No. But the administration adopted a policy of giving "particular care" before deporting students, military veterans and others deemed to be low risk, while concentrating on felons, gang members and threats to national security. The claim is very strange part of this scare tactic is that there are no 20 million illegal immigrants in the country, I think there are about 13 million. Also it was stated that many were criminals. What the act was about was allowing certain illegal immigrants who came to the country as children and who now in college or the military to gain legal status to qualify for citizenship. There is more to the story but you can do your own research.
Another example I hear frequently is about all the welfare recipient abuses that take place in this country and that they should be punished, and we should throw out the system. Are there abuses, of course, just as there are abuses by bankers, lawyers, clergy, teachers and everyone else and those issues should be addressed and corrected as best we can. That frequently means we need to hire additional government workers for oversight. Welfare systems are in place for a good reason. To help and protect those who are in need in this country, some because they know no other way of living and some by tragic circumstance. In the long run these programs save the country money as they seek to make these individuals productive members of society. Fix the system.
A real favorite is condemning the amount of “Pork spending” the government has. John McCain seemed to use that bit in every other sentences. But the fact is “pork” or “pork barrel” spending amounts to 1% of the national budget. It is the pet projects of legislators often without public hearings. They are often called “earmarks” bits added to legislation bills by congressman. Though perhaps unethical, they are small potatoes in a large marketplace.
Now we come to congressional salaries and benefits. The salary for a congressman (senator or representative) is $174,000. The Speaker of the House gets $225,500, minority and majority leaders get $193,000. They do pay social security but have generous retirement packages based upon length of service; 2 to 3 times better than others folk in our society at their salary level. Considering the work and its importance to the country their salaries do not seem out of line. The President gets $400,000 and the Vice President gets $230,700. Compared to corporation CEO’s they are ridiculously underpaid.
All of the above get a lot of press but are pretty small issues compared to the big budget issues and concerns of our government. Following are a couple of pie charts to help us get a bigger picture. Obviously charts reflect can be done in various ways, but these will suffice to give us a general picture.
Clearly the big pieces of our spending are: health care, defense, and pensions/social security.
I’ve written several times on the health care situation in our country [i.e. July 26 A Healthcare System to Bankrupt a country; was the latest.] This is a big issue where even minimal study shows that government based systems do a better and cheaper job for their citizens, despite all the rhetoric you hear from special interest groups that are reaping the benefits of our system. But it is unsustainable. This is a big issue that need serious discussion.
Defense issues are also important. It was one of the primary issues in forming the republic or of any societal system; to protect it citizens. But we can go completely whacko in how we go about it. We need to serious consider if we can afford to the world’s police if when it seems so necessary. There are other means to deal these issues. Eisenhower said it best, “beware of the military industrial complex,” because it is so subject to corruption. Need a modern example look to Vice President Cheney and Halliburton. (see July 16, 2002 issue of the Los Angeles Times.) The United States fought successfully in congress approved national wars: WWI & WWII, but our undeclared wars have been unsuccessful and absurdly expensive.
Finally we come to social security and Medicare, the safety net of our society. It was clear following the great depression we had to have such programs developed to save the nation from every having to go through those terrible times again. A country as wealthy as ours should be able to have and sustain such as safety net as all other developed countries have. And we can but it needs continual reform and a willingness for have to share their wealth with the have nots. In humility we should affirm the old Quaker saying, “There but for the grace of God go I.” But we are far too willing to boast of our accomplishments if we have been successful and to condemn those who have not fared as well as we have. The TV program “Undercover Bosses” underscores our willingness to share and help if we are aware of the work and the needs of others.
The main point of all this is to keep things in perspective. In my years in the church we faced the same things. Great arguments would take place over the color of carpet and paint, what the pastor should were during worship and elsewhere, whether memorials should have plaques or not, heating and cooling issues and the like. But when it came to what the mission of the church and our church was folk tend to sit mute. When asked why the Bible says about various issues folk look sideways at each other and shrug. We in the church can get all excited about passing temporal issues and forget the eternal.
We us pray the congress can get its act in order and its priorities straight.
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