As an American raised by my parents to pay my bills – and pay them promptly – I find the Republicans’ refusal to raise taxes both incomprehensible and maddening. For ten years, during which time the government was largely controlled by Republicans, we fought two wars while maintaining taxes at peacetime levels. In effect we’ve fought these wars on credit with monies borrowed from the Chinese. Even were we now to eliminate all government services and cut the federal budget to zero we, our children and our grandchildren would be faced with this extraordinary debt. Our only hope of chipping away at it is to raise taxes. We ran up the bill, now we have to pay for it. Republican legislators are no less fond of scarfing up goodies for their constituents than are Democrats; they just don’t like to pay for them. Children in a candy store are like that, eagerly stuffing their pockets while not giving the slightest thought to their parents’ ability to pay. It’s time that Republicans grow up, put aside ideology, and raise taxes until our country is solvent again.
I also wish they’d stop characterizing the Obama health plan as “job killing.” In point of fact one of the reasons many employers are reluctant to take on new employees is the cost of providing them health benefits. Maintaining the health of our citizens should be the responsibility of the country as a whole. Saddling various companies with health costs not only makes the cost of their products less competitive but keeps unemployment high.