Founders Perspctive
The Right Things
John Merrill, July 2024
Winston Churchill once stated, “Americans will always do the right thing after they have tried everything else.”
Of course, “the right thing” is in the eye of the beholder. Yet there is broad agreement on some very basic long-term guiding principles for our country, including:
Respect and support for the institutions that made this country the envy of the world: rule of law, equality of opportunity, first class public education, independent judiciary, free markets, and true democratic participation.
Building and maintaining a Department of Defense capable of defending our country against all adversaries.
Public debt that can easily be supported through all economic cycles without stressing other governmental responsibilities. We cannot continue to post enormous fiscal deficits.
Providing necessary help for those Americans, who through no fault of their own, cannot fully support themselves.
Build and maintain the infrastructure necessary to run a first class 21st century country.
Provide the regulatory backdrop necessary to support Americans’ general health and safety but not so much as to interfere with the growth and competitiveness of our economy.
Whereas there is general agreement on these principles, the devil is in the details of how to implement them. The Founding Fathers recognized that there would be disagreements, so they built into each of the three branches of government safeguards from tyrannical rule by a majority.
Perhaps what we most lack is reasonable debate on the matters of implementation and cooperative compromise. No side has all the right answers. This has never been easy but is even harder in this era of passions inflamed by social media and polarized television formats.
Many of you know that one of my passions is education, particularly today’s poor performing public education system. Certainly, there are many top performing school districts, but national scores are beyond dismal.
Our kids are our future. Poor performing public schools need accountability which necessitates more community and parental involvement and/or competitive alternatives such as charter schools.
I have also written many times in the past about the unsustainable path of our national debt obligations. For example, I wrote a Perspective piece titled, Debt, Taxes, Inflation, and Repudiation in January 2010 from which I take the following quote: Our government continues to increase its long-term spending commitments (relative to revenues) which were already on a collision course with its ability to pay.
Nothing has changed since then except we have gone from 60% to 100% debt to GDP and soaring interest costs. (On June 18th the CBO increased this year’s estimated deficit to $1.9 trillion – just shy of the all-time high posted in the worst of Covid – and this is with a strong economy!)
Real compromise starts at the intersection of fairness in taxes and fairness in benefits. While I am a fiscal conservative, I recognize the need to raise taxes as an essential element for reaching the goals stated at the beginning of this piece.
It is also apparent to me that the lion’s share of any tax increases must come from the wealthiest Americans. The drivers of our current economy reward this group far more than past generations and are causing social strains across our nation.
We came together after WWII to pay down the enormous government debt built up during that war. Income tax rates reached 90%! Can we come together and pay for the government we need to avoid WWIII?
Finally, a major compromise is now necessary for entitlements. This is the elephant in the room that almost all politicians have negligently avoided. As virtually everyone acknowledges in private, unanticipated increased longevity has made our current promises unsustainable.
Many very intelligent proposals have been made for entitlement reform. The easiest to implement would be means testing annually (progressive ineligibility for higher earning above some number); increasing the eligibility age for those now under say 50; CPI inflation adjustment instead of the current wage inflation number.
America today is based on past decisions; America tomorrow is based on today’s. Who is in charge? WE ARE! Let’s demand more from those in a position to make needed changes. It is about time we proved Winston Churchill right.