BCT Editorial – 5/1/08

This page was last updated on May 1, 2008.

Grand theft; Editorial; Beaver County Times; May 1, 2008.

The editorial subtitle is “Rebate checks represent the further plundering of America’s future.”

Though a regular topic of Times editorials (“No sense of shame” and “Deeper in debt” are examples), I suspect deficit spending and debt will cease to be newsworthy if we elect a Democrat president this year.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“For years, the Bush administration and Republican-controlled Congress blithely mortgaged the future of our children and grandchildren by heaping tons of government debt on them through their borrow-and-spend profligacy.”

[RWC] Nice try, but as I note below, this phenomenon has been occurring in the U.S. for many, many decades. Unfortunately, it’s nothing new. While it’s true Republicans haven’t been exactly frugal with taxpayer dollars, we also need to acknowledge Senate Democrats didn’t filibuster the spending bills. Democrats filibustered other things, but not spending bills.

FYI, I wasn’t in favor of the rebates. The purpose of this critique is to show the editorial’s flawed “facts” and “logic.”

“Now, future generations are picking up the tab for our personal bills, too.

“The economic stimulus tax-rebate checks are in the mail (or being directly deposited into checking accounts, in some cases), and their impact on the U.S. economy is expected to be minimal.”

[RWC] This is old news. After all, $168 billion is only about 1.2% of our GDP. This was all about political pandering during an election year.

“That’s because, as The Associated Press reported, lower-income shoppers, squeezed by higher gasoline and food prices, are expected to use the money to play catch-up on basic purchases like beef and paper products. Another big chunk is expected to be used to pay down debt.”

[RWC] Two points. First, even if it’s “to play catch-up,” isn’t that spending that would not have occurred otherwise?

Second, what does the Times believe will happen when some of the money is “used to pay down debt?” It will be used to buy things or will be lent again to other borrowers to buy things.

“Because of that, the checks won’t stimulate the economy to the extent the Bush White House and Congress had contended.”

[RWC] To be consistent with the first paragraph, shouldn’t “Congress” have been “Democrat-controlled Congress?”

“The rebate checks are part of a $168 billion economic stimulus plan passed by Congress. Under the plan, individuals who have filed their tax returns for the year can receive up to $600 and families can get up to $1,200.

“And every penny that will be cashed and spent will be put on the tab of future generations.

“Our national addiction to debt is no longer a matter of economics and fiscal management. It’s a moral issue of paramount importance. We not only have squandered the wealth we inherited from the generations that came before us. We have continued our wastrel ways by stealing the future of those who will follow us.”

[RWC] “[T]he wealth we inherited from the generations that came before us?” This is a case of revisionist history. Since 1931, we ran a deficit 66 years out of 78, including a run of 28 straight years from 1970 through 1997. As far as I can tell, the U.S. has been in debt since at least 1850.

In case you haven’t noticed previous editorials, the Times solution is more taxation even though our overall tax rate (32.7%) is already near its historical high (34% in 2000), and 25% higher than its highest point (26.1% in 1943) during World War II. You may recall previous editorials told us we were selfish for not wanting to raise taxes.

“For one brief and shining moment at the end of the Clinton administration, our nation had a chance to pay down the federal debt so it would not be a burden to future generations.”

[RWC] It’s funny how the editorial failed to note these four budget surpluses came only after minor tax rate cuts in 1997 pushed by the Republican-majority Congress. It was probably just an honest oversight. <g>

“Instead, it exploded. Today, the national debt stands at $9.34 trillion, an increase of almost $3.8 trillion from when Bush took office. (That $9.34 trillion translates into $30,745 for every American.)

“So try not to look your children and grandchildren in the eyes when you cash your rebate checks. It’s their future you’re spending.”

[RWC] No problem. I have no children and I will receive no rebate check.