BCT Editorial – 1/23/05

This page was last updated on January 30, 2005.

The road to serfdom; Editorial; Beaver County Times; January 23, 2005.

Yet another example of hypocrisy and partisanship.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“‘In America’s ideal of freedom, citizens find the dignity and security of economic independence, instead of laboring on the edge of subsistence. This is the broader definition of liberty that motivated the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act, and the GI Bill of Rights. And now we will extend this vision by reforming great institutions to serve the needs of our time. To give every American a stake in the promise and future of our country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools, and build an ownership society. We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance - preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society.’

“Thus spoke President George Bush on Inauguration Day.

“But before we as a people start building ‘an ownership society,’ don’t you think we first and foremost ought to own up to the massive debt that we are piling on future generations of Americans?

“On the day that Bush took the oath for a second term in office, the national debt stood at $7.6 trillion, according to the U.S. National Debt Clock Web site. That breaks down to $25,785 for every American - man, woman and child.”

[RWC] It’s “President Bush,” not simply “Bush.”

“That debt is growing at a rate of $2.12 billion a day, and there is no end in sight when it comes to the seas of red ink.

“It’s not that Bush’s ideas are bad. It’s just that the bills for paying for them would be pawned off on future generations of Americans. In doing so, we are weakening their ability to grow and prosper and to respond to national emergencies and external threats.”

[RWC] “It’s not that Bush’s ideas are bad?” Is the author kidding? Anyone who reads Times editorials learns the Bush administration can do nothing good.

“But this is about more than doing what is right and paying our bills in a timely manner. Our profligacy is also a national security issue and a threat to the very freedom and liberty that the president proclaims so loudly.

[RWC] I oppose deficit spending and debt as a matter of principle. When President Bush pressed the tax cuts, they should have been accompanied by spending cuts. I don’t believe I can say that about the Times.

The editorial has some nerve complaining about profligacy (wild extravagance). We routinely read Times editorials telling us there is nothing – or very little – that can be done to reduce spending. Recently the Times even claimed spending $255 million on the white elephant James E. Ross (D) Highway (Toll Route 60) was a good “investment.”

“The federal government’s need to borrow massive amounts of money to finance its spendthrift ways puts the nation in danger of being in the thrall of foreign investors, especially the central banks of China and Japan. They are buying up much of our debt, and it won’t be long before our addiction to their money will give them the clout they need to start calling the tune.

“Despite Bush’s highfalutin rhetoric, we are not on our way to an ownership society. Unless we start living within our means, paying our bills and exercising self-discipline as a country and a people, the only direction our nation will be going is farther down the road to serfdom.”

[RWC] Is the author serious? This is the same newspaper that continuously supports government programs that rob Peter to pay Paul, mass transit welfare being the latest example. Indeed, the Times editorial indicated advocating paying your own way and self-reliance was a step on a “slippery slope” to ruin. This is the antithesis of “living within our means, paying our bills and exercising self-discipline as a country and a people.”