In the current presidential debates, neither major candidate will name any specific, taxpayer-funded benefit that must be cut. Instead, we hear calls to “save” and “protect” programs through “reform.”
Observing the 2012 presidential debates, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that, as a nation, we suffer from a deep political schizophrenia. We expect – no, we demand – contradictory things from our elected officials. Then, when they can’t deliver Cadillacs at Chevy prices, we replace them with a new group of snake oil salesmen.
Among political types, this is called the Pogo Principle: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Others have put it more bluntly: In a democracy, we get the politicians we deserve. In the election season, we get to shoot the messenger and call it democracy in action.
Here is the immediate problem. We live in a nation on the verge of fiscal bankruptcy with a citizen cadre that does not want to even hear the word austerity, much less hear the list of government programs that must be scaled back if we are to avoid calamity. You think it’s only the “47 percent” or food-stamp recipients who don’t want to hear the bad news? Think again.
We shake our heads at the “lazy Greeks” who riot in the streets against government spending cuts, but really, are we far behind? Do you see any group volunteering to walk away from the public trough?
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