The Observer, April 22, 2005
Volume XXXVII, Issue 26
The Right Stuff: Bush coming up short in his second term
Five months have passed since the November election, where President Bush's re-election campaign came to a successful conclusion. Since then, our wartime administration and the Republican-led House and Senate have not shown promising signs of coming through on their promises of increased domestic security and fiscal stability. What will it take to increase the nation's sense of urgency in remedying issues facing our country? Earnest discussion would be a good start.
Granted, the budget delivered by the Bush administration showed a greater degree of fiscal responsibility than in previous years, but it hinges on the debatable assump-tion that the government can continue to operate at deep deficits without risking economic stability. Most economists believe that deficit spending is permissible in the short run. Reliance on deficit spending following a recessionary period, which the nation experienced during a quarter of 2001, can lead to inflation and crowding out in borrowing. The underlying fear of rapid inflation continues to hold the stock market in check, and will continue to lead the Federal Open Market Committee to raise interest rates. For an economy that is driven more and more by consumer debt, be it through home equity or credit cards, higher interest rates will lead to decreases in consumer spending.
President Bush won re-election in part due to his emphasis on national defense. That emphasis seems insufficiently supported with appropriate action thus far in his second term. Border security remains a major issue for southern states, and illegal immigration poses a dire national security threat the administration has continued to downplay. This has led to the creation of vigilante groups such as the Minuteman Project, and fueled their threats to maintain their own contingent of armed border guards. Though the president may feel that money spent on protecting our border with Mexico may be little more than cork in a breaking dam, some measure is necessary to ensure the safety of Americans throughout the country, and especially those in the states most directly affected by our under-protected border. Discussion on border protection still lends itself to justifying figures like 347 Mexicans being killed in illegal border crossings in 2004. Rather than focusing on blaming those responsible, solutions need to be evaluated and enacted.
The admin-istration's focus on creating private Social Security accounts already sounds like old hat, and since the campaign started, public support for the initiate has dropped according to CBS/New York Times surveys. The instability and lack of momentum in the stock market have further contributed to fears regarding the viability of private accounts, a symptom of continued deficit spending. If the GOP can't even energize its base to support privatizing Social Security, then our elected officials need to move on to a different solution to ensure the solvency of social security. As I've discussed in the past, without reform on a rapid timetable, those who can least pay the cost – Social Security recipients – will suffer the brunt of the cost.
Moving forward will require more fiscal responsibility from the administration, coupled with better communication between elected representatives and constituencies. Major media outlets can help streamline the legislative process by facilitating the dissemination of balanced information, rather than contributing to endless, ineffectual debate. The pro-liferation of disinformation is arguably one of the greatest challenges to our country. As citizens and consumers of news media, we need to take an active role in seeing that the news media plays a responsible role in the legislative process.
