Tuesday, October 30, 2012

AFFORDING FEDERAL DISASTER RELIEF

Or…why I don’t want a businessman running our country.

The United States of America is NOT a business. The government has responsibilities that go far beyond “balancing the budget”…security, postal service, regulation of interstate commerce, interstate transportation, and protecting the welfare of our neediest and most vulnerable citizens, to name only a few.

Fiscal responsibility is absolutely critical, but as a country we are about a lot more than “the bottom line”. Citizens have a right to expect certain services from their government, and they have a responsibility to pay for them. Paying taxes is not a punishment or a burden to be avoided; it is a civic duty that we all should embrace.

We are not a corporation whose only duty is to improve the bottom line for the shareholders. We are a government with a moral obligation to serve its citizens, and as citizens, we share that moral obligation.

I am not advocating fiscal irresponsibility, to the contrary, but unlike corporations, we cannot ignore our moral obligations. Depicting taxes as an evil government ploy to take your money away from you does not serve us well.

Like almost everything else, this is not and either – or situation. Reasonable, intelligent people can find a way to meet both responsibilities. Oops, I forgot; those are not the folks in congress.