FISCAL IDIOCY
By
Richard Davis

GUILFORD- In the world of politics the only way to save money is by spending less. In the world that the rest of us live in, experience has taught us that belt-tightening is a temporary, short-term fix.
If spending less could actually solve problems do you think our economy would be in such bad shape? If spending less could make a difference, then why are Vermont’s roads and bridges in such poor condition? If spending less could make a difference, then why are Vermonters struggling to pay bills for health care, education and fuel?
Spending less today means that we all pay more tomorrow. Anyone with even half of a functioning brain knows that if you own a house, a car or anything of value, you don’t skimp on maintenance costs every year and try to spend less and less because, in a very short time, you will end up paying a lot more.
How many people would take an old piece of tarpaper and nail it to a hole in a leaking roof and call the job done? Pretty soon the hole would get bigger and the attic and everything below the leak would be ruined. We all know that doing the job right saves money, even if the tab for a proper fix seems high at the time.
So why do we throw all of that common sense out the window when it comes to running our government and supporting our society? Politics makes even the most intelligent people become fiscal idiots. They worry about getting re-elected. They worry about public opinion and they worry about the dreaded specter of new taxes.
Let’s get real for a minute. Who do you think the people are who save the most money? It is the people who spend the most on prevention and maintenance. They know they will soon reap the benefits of their forward thinking. They understand that you have to spend money to save money.
If belt-tightening was a sensible way to deal with problems then the poor among us would not suffer worse health care outcomes, they would not struggle to pay rent, food and fuel bills and they would be a model for how spending less really makes a difference.
Instead, the poor among us suffer soon after they start spending less. Their children suffer and we all end up paying the tab. Family members are forced to pass through the doors of hospital emergency rooms where much of the care that the rest of us pay for should be unnecessary if we had a society that put money into prevention. Preventable diseases of the body and the mind also make education more costly.
Our Governor’s constant mantra is that we have to find ways to spend less. When I hear politicians, of any party, clinging to that unenlightened philosophy I know we are headed for bad times.
We are all paying the high price of living in a belt-tightening world. Although the issues are more complicated on the national level, it stills boils down to the same cause and effect situation. This country could find the money to be pro-active and spend so that we can save, but our President and Congress act as if increasing spending on domestic issues and spending money for our people’s needs is not a priority. War and tax breaks for the rich are the highest priority, and that is resulting in a crumbling national infrastructure. Economic recession is not something that just happens, it is the result of bad decisions by elected leaders. We are putting one piece of tarpaper on the three foot square hole on the dome of the Capitol Building and hoping it will do.
If you frame things in this way then the idea that raising taxes to make all of our lives better makes sense. In a few short years we will all be better off and we will spend a lot less money solving problems.
My wife and I do not make a lot of money and we do have a little retirement money stashed away. We dip into that money on a regular basis, so retirement may last one or two years, if we are lucky.
Even though we barely pay our bills, we would be willing to pay more in taxes if we knew that we would pay less for health care, education and energy in the long run or, that even if we didn’t pay less, that the cost of increase would be smaller every year.
I suspect there is a majority of sensible people that would agree with me but they do not include our President, Governor or a majority of politicians on any level. What will it take to make them come to their senses?