What If?
Nancy Huddleston, the editor of the Savage Pacer recently asked Rep. Mark Buesgens to write a “What If” op-ed on the less-than-stimulating federal stimulus legislation. Here’s what Rep. Buesgens wrote:
Dear Nancy,
Thank you for the chance to share my “What if” wish!
What if every elected official in Scott County banded together to send the following message to Washington:
“Dear Mr. President and Members of Congress:
While we here in Scott County, Minnesota appreciate the well intentions behind this spending package, we respectfully ask that you reduce the amount of your planned debt by the amount proposed for our area.
You see, we believe in individual liberty which means that we believe in personal responsibility. Yes, we are facing some tough times now, but we are committed to making the tough decisions today so as to ensure a prosperous tomorrow. Saddling our children and grand-children with a crushing debt because we were too timid to do the right thing now would be an awful legacy that we as elected representatives of a wonderful people will not participate in.
And so we respectfully ask you to keep your borrowed money and pork spending and we will keep our pride, honor and dignity.”
Sending this letter would help us regain our collective character and help bring good from these trying times.
Sincerely,
Mark Buesgens
Rep. Buesgens makes several interesting points worth discussing. Let’s start with this:
Yes, we are facing some tough times now, but we are committed to making the tough decisions today so as to ensure a prosperous tomorrow.
Setting priorities isn’t something that you’ll hear from Democrats whether they’re stationed in Washington, DC or in St. Paul, MN. There isn’t a hint of proof that Democratic majority in St. Paul has any inclination towards setting priorities or making difficult decisions. They won’t even put a budget together so people know where they stand.
As for Washington, DC, all you need to know about the priorities of the Democratic Party of President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is shown in the stimulus bill. It appears that Pelosi’s Democrats’ toughest decision is whether they’ll fight to make the stimulus bill $850,000,000 or if it should be $1,000,000,000,000.
Here in Minnesota, the Democrats’ idea or making hard choices is whether the impending tax increases will balance the budget or pay off one of their special interest allies. (I know that the DFL hasn’t announced their tax increase agenda but it’s imminent. Like I said here, raising taxes is genetic with Democrats:
Hatch gave his task an initial shot in a rambling acceptance speech that punched some of the right buttons. He cast Pawlenty as too stingy with education, responsible for large class sizes and rising college tuition. He tagged him for an inadequate response to soaring health care costs and the emerging biosciences industry. He promised more state investment in those things. Significantly, he said, “we can do this without raising taxes.”I agree that restoring education funding can be done without raising taxes. That said, does anyone in their right mind think that Democrats won’t raise taxes? I’ll believe that the day I get photos of a leopard rearranging the spots on his fur. Believing that a Democrat won’t raise taxes instinctively is like believing that making sudden movements towards a cobra won’t get you bit. You can believe it all you want but reality is reality.
Democrats on the SCTimes story chat are so aware that Democrats all but automatically raise taxes that they don’t hide their love of tax increases. They’ve tried raising Minnesota’s taxes too many times to maintain any credibility on the subject. That’s why they don’t try.
Here’s something else that Rep. Buesgens wrote that’s worth discussing:
Saddling our children and grand-children with a crushing debt because we were too timid to do the right thing now would be an awful legacy that we as elected representatives of a wonderful people will not participate in.
Politicians that don’t hesitate before dramatically increasing the debt their children will pay aren’t leaders. Politicians that won’t hesitate before saddling the next generation with debt aren’t handing over much of a legacy to that generation.
In the truest sense, governing is part smart policymaking based on facts, part willingness to make difficult decisions. Being willing to make difficult decisions necessarily includes the ability to say no to appealing wants.
In 2007, the DFL in Minnesota showed a willingness to say yes to their special interest allies. This year, Democrats in Washington have shown an extraordinary willingness to say yes to everything on their special interest allies’ wishlist. The Democrats’ unwillingness to say no is the shortest path between economic stability/surpluses and economic instability and major deficits.
Here in Minnesota, a number of House Republicans told the DFL majority that we shouldn’t spend the entire $2.2 billion surplus because the economy was slowing down. (Rep. Buusgens was among the legislators arguing against spending that surplus.) They argued that a deficit was in our immediaate future. The DFL spent the entire surplus in 2007 anyway. When the 2008 session started, legislators were told that there’d be a deficit by the end of the 2008 session.
As a result, Gov. Pawlenty and Republicans forced the DFL into saying no. Before this year’s session started, it was announced that the 2008-2009 biennium would close with a $426,000,000 deficit and that there’d be a $4,800,000,000 deficit for the 09-10 biennium.
In the end, Gov. Pawlenty, Rep. Buesgens and the rest of his House GOP colleagues had the right priorities. The DFL didn’t.
When we look back on President Obama’s stimulus bill, I suspect that we’ll conclude that Republicans, led by the entire House GOP Conference, John McCain and, surprisingly, Lindsey Graham set the right priorities and that neither Pelosi’s Democrats nor Sen. Reid’s bunch set the right priorities because they thought their election victory gave them a blank check to do whatever they wanted to do.
Technorati Tags: Stimulus, Deficits, National Debt, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Special Interests, Democrats, Mark Buesgens, Tim Pawlenty, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Fiscal Restraint, Republicans
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog