With all the tumult arising from the deficit, and the incessant mantra that we as a nation must live within our means, I have to wonder where all the money goes. It isn’t just that we let the millionaires off the hook; everyone evidently agrees that we can’t find our way out of the mess just by raising taxes on the rich.
Granted, our overall rate of taxation is said to be much lower than is typical of Western Europe, except for taxes imposed directly on corporations. But I wonder if the gap is as great as commonly believed, especially when local taxes, including sales taxes, are factored in. In many cases, the only way a community can obtain local improvements is to impose a sales tax on itself, as we have done in L.A. just so we can have a few more rail lines.
With the amount of taxes we pay out, I look around me and have to say, just look at this place! Schools are laying off teachers, cities are laying off cops, potholes don’t get repaired, and transit agencies are cutting service. Is it really Grandma’s Medicare that is doing this to us? Surely not, when every other country in the G8 provides healthcare for everybody. Obviously, one big elephant in the room is the military budget, but compared to how often we are warned about the cost of “entitlements”, military expenditures would seem to be hardly a blip on the radar.
American foreign policy is, at times, overbearing and dismissive of other cultures. But it might surprise some foreigners to learn that, internally, self reproach has been a national pastime ever since the evangelical “awakenings” of the early 19th century. Our personal profligacy is supposed to be what has brought us to this sorry state of affairs–too much food, too much drink, too many widescreen TVs. Notoriously, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey ignited controversy–and an angry boycott courtesy of their left-leaning customer base–for opposing health care reform in 2009. As he saw it, we needed to reform our diets, rather than our system of healthcare delivery. In other words, most of us deserve inadequate access to health care because we eat too much meat. Obesity is certainly a serious health issue, but judging by how often I read *Die 2 wichtigsten Grundregeln für einen flachen Bauch. * (“The 2 most important rules to follow for a flat stomach”), when surfing German internet sites, suggests that Western Europe isn’t far behind us in that department.
Forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned, as Catholics say. And as far as Protestants are concerned, most sects officially believe in the “total depravity” of all their members. The Christian concept of total depravity is not actually as horrible as it sounds, but to a casual reader it seems to suggest that to differentiate between Albert Schweitzer and Adolf Hitler is to split hairs. Along with the grace of redemption, total depravity, obviously, is not a concept originated in America by Americans, but the attitude of self condemnation it represents is as American as baseball.
We’re spending the money all right, but not getting much value for it. at least not in ways that appear to benefit us personally and locally.
Where are the leaks?
