Opinion

Across The Fence

Let's save the land of opportunity

The coming presidential election may be one of the most important in this nation's history.

Columnist Kathie Greer

Emergencies and potential catastrophes are looming on both domestic and international fronts. Decisions made by the next administration will either put the United States and its citizens back on firmer ground, or set their feet on a dicey descent toward a lower standard of living.

The basic economic principle is simple: You can't spend more than you take in without disastrous results.

Most of us learned that early on; some of us learned it the hard way.

The principle doesn't just apply to personal finances. But we seem slower at catching on when it applies to the federal government and our tax dollars. Even though we've been faced with massive deficits and out-of-control spending before, we acquiesce all too easily through apathy or ignorance when the government's spending sprees begin.

Let's look at a few hard facts.

The war in Iraq is costing far more than what the administration suggested.

Before the fighting began, the Pentagon estimated the expense of battling Iraq at about $50 billion.

In a September 2002 interview with The Wall Street Journal, White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey provided a more realistic "upper bound" estimate of $100 to $200 billion. He argued that it wasn't much and even said, "The successful prosecution of the war would be good for the economy."

It is worth noting that President George W. Bush later fired Lindsey. Perhaps the economist's predictions on both the costs and the benefits disturbed the commander in chief.

Either way, a lot of us were more than willing to ante up for a war that would eliminate weapons of mass destruction in the hands of a despot and sworn enemy of America.

But, as we all know now, we were sold a fraudulent bill of goods.

Perhaps we should have been more wary and demanded more hard evidence before blindly trusting the intelligence provided by our elected leaders. The astronomical costs of the war continue to climb, and we've done little to demand a slowdown.

We could spend hours talking about what could have or should have been done, but that's counterproductive. We need to look toward the future and seek ways to extricate ourselves from the quagmire in Iraq.

Current projections place the war expense in excess of $1 trillion. That figure doesn't even come close to the peripheral costs: lives lost, military men and women returning with ravaged bodies and/or minds, the psychological wounds inflicted on families, runaway gasoline prices as the cost of a barrel of crude oil has tripled since the war began and continues to climb. And we're spending more than we have.

As we borrow to pay for the war, the deficit is skyrocketing and inflation is decimating the dollar.

It costs more to heat our homes, feed our families and get to work. Savings are falling along with consumer spending. Trade deficits are rising and compromising America's ability to compete. Millions of Americans can't afford health care, we're falling behind in educational achievement and the financial security of our children and grandchildren is being squandered.

Unfortunately, Lindsey was correct: the war has provided benefits to some.

Exxon Oil Co., for example, posted record profits last year. Don't you think those profits are a bit unseemly when the nation is at war and has been repeatedly wracked by weather-related disasters over the past couple of years?

Tax breaks and new contracts boosted the profits recorded by Halliburton, whose primary business is oil field services. Even though the corporate giant sold off construction contractor KBR in April, the spin-off company also posted substantial profits last year.

And there are others: investment groups, food purveyors, utility construction companies, communications companies.

All of them are showing robust profits, even though some of those profits come both at the expense of the Iraqi people and the American taxpayers.

As all the presidential candidates are saying, it's time for a change.

But as voters, we need to select candidates who won't just pay lip-service to the idea of doing things differently, but who will truly set this nation on a course to restore the availability of the American Dream.

Kathie Greer: Columnist and consultant for the Amarillo Independent. She can be reached at kathie@amarilloindy.com.

E-mail comments about this story
to the publisher of The Amarillo Independent.

Posted: January 10, 2008