Debating the Economy
Hadiza
Wada, DBA …July 16, 2011
Common Sense is
just that: common. With a brain, and
the five senses that take in and analyze information from our environment, man
is fashioned to use those senses to make close to accurate judgment most of the
time, and especially those that relate to his basic survival. If you listen to
the politicians and the policy makers of our times, you would think they are not
using these same human faculties themselves, as they make you think you cannot
think out issues accurately. Right
now many nations are experiencing historical economic, and sometimes political
and social challenges as well. The
United States is not immune from some of such issues too.
The challenges
even in the US are basic because they dwell on the basic means of survival,
health, food, and shelter. A very
significant percentage of Americans have lost their homes in great numbers a few
years ago. Though the housing market
issue has pretty much stabilized, the means of putting food on the table, and
taking care of health needs (employment), have remained a daunting problem that
has defied various schemes to revive.
The people meanwhile, continue to watch their elected representatives
play games with the issues.
For the past
week, and most especially throughout this week, the leading Legislators have
been in meetings with the White House staff, trying to resolve their political
differences in order to avoid a default in debt repayment, as well as employing
key strategies to solidify and strengthen the U S Economy.
As common with
politicians all over the world, the politicians in the U.S. want to confuse and
make the public believe that the issues are so complex for them to use their
common sense to understand. And as
long as people are not willing to exert their will in the majority in order to
make sure that their lives priorities are addressed, the politicians will
continue to get away with it.
In his 1989 book
titled “Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies”, for
example, Noam Chomsky stated “my personal feeling is that citizens of the
democratic societies should undertake a course of intellectual self-defense to
protect themselves from manipulations and control, and to lay the basis for more
meaningful democracy.” His discussions seems to suggest that it is not that the
people are necessarily unaware of what is happening, or unwilling to speak out
against it, the major issue usually is the lack of access to media, i.e. avenues
where they could make their opinions about issues known to a mass audience.
The impasse over
government spending cut and the willingness of politicians to deal with US debt
issue is just one of these times when you feel that the people could be the best
group to push the issue one way or another.
Despite several weeks of negotiations, the White House and Republicans
leaders have not been able to come up with any solution that could rein in
government spending while increasing the nation's borrowing limit. The Democrats
strategy is to work on raising new revenues in any deal that would require deep
spending cuts. But as usual, “the Republicans are adamantly opposed to any tax
increases, even if it is limited to closing tax loopholes for the wealthiest
Americans” reports Fox news.
It is not
surprising that the Republicans are once again picking issue with any strategy
that would lead to making the rich paying more tax, not even that the
governments implement new policies that make it hard for corporations and
wealthy Americans to take advantage of the loopholes built into the tax codes to
further reduce what they should pay in tax. Supporting
rich corporations as against the middle and lower class Americans has been a
consistent policy of the Republican Party over the years.
The United
States understandably is a capitalist economy.
Its economy is dependent on thriving corporations providing employment. But over the years, those
corporations and their Washington lobby have managed to work in swaying legal
debates and bills to exclusively serve them, mostly to the detriment of the
general public. The result is that
they enjoy great leverage, continue to issue huge corporate bonus checks, while
shortchanging their customers from whom they make the profit. Even the huge and controversial
bailout amount doled out to them in the billions about three years ago by both
the outgoing Bush administration and incoming Obama Administration, became
unpopular because of the way such governmental funds were used thereafter.
What is ironic
however is the fact that the same group that has held the Obama Administration
to task over his “corporate Bailout” which many ascribe to what gave birth to
the “Tea Party,” would now hold their horses over an issue that seeks to make
such corporations and those milking it [wealthy Americas], pay their share of
tax back to the coffers of government in order to further make such funds work
for the people.
The majority
[middle Class and below] have consistently been on the receiving end of the
global challenges, with no reprieve coming from those they entrust to represent
them in decision making at the federal level.
Rather than make
the hard decisions that would greatly benefit the nation, the Republicans would
rather empower Obama to raise the debt ceiling, something that they may use
later against the President in his bid for a second term. We could all remember that the
first utterance of a leading Republican, Senator Mitch McConnell when the party
gained majority seats in the House last
year, was the goal to remove President Obama from office during his run for a
second term.
Political
analysts have concluded even before the present administration was voted into
power that the average American is tired of Washington politics of blame-game
and deadlocks, so also the issue of campaign finance and electability
determining the outcome of decisions and policies. People are hurting and what they
needed then and what they need now are results, not another tug-of-war that
keeps the main issues unaddressed.
(c) The Optimist Voice. All Rights Reserved.
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