Why The American Government is Out Of Money

Yesterday David Brooks of the New York Times published an editorial whose thesis was that we can no longer afford to fix roads, bridges, or sewer pipes because the government was out of money. And the reason they were out of money was because the government workforce had become so bloated.

Although his arguments seem reasonable, I would suggest that for the most part he is completely off base.

The reason that we cannot afford to fix existing or build new infrastructure projects, are having to fire cops and teachers, and all of the other normal governmental functions is four fold. First, we have continued to foolishly spend billions and trillions of dollars on defense, intelligence, and the military. President Eisenhower warned us about the military-industrial complex, but no administration since then has had the backbone to stand up to the military. These continuous wars and conflicts have done nothing to make America safer, but they have led us down the path of national bankruptcy.

Second, we have continued to lower taxation, especially on the wealthy and the super wealthy.

Third, through our nation's tax laws we have actually encouraged companies to move their production out of America, and to countries which do not have any, or as rigorous, laws regarding child labor, workplace safety, and environmental protection. Actually making/producing something is what creates and maintains strong national economies. Shifting funny money around on Wall Street only creates the illusion of wealth. What is really happening is the destruction of the middle class.

Fourth, we have refused to enact laws or rules which appropriately tax senseless energy waste. So the average fuel economy of our cars and trucks is no better now than it was in the 1970s. Instead of taxing gasoline and other fossil fuels so as to encourage conservation and energy efficiency, we have allowed a vast transfer of wealth from the U.S.A. to the unstable Arab and Muslim countries in the middle east where we are widely hated.

In many ways we have done this to ourselves through greed and largely unregulated business. Why the form of democracy as practiced in America is not able to make these important and difficult decisions anymore is a critical question. Many other democratic countries around the world have governmental systems which are capable of doing what is necessary to insure self preservation, but it appears that the USA no longer is able to.

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