Wake up, America
Posted by on Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Under: Columns
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090726/OPINION/907260322/My-Turn--Wake-up--America
More than two centuries ago, our founders set forth a promise to our citizens of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Today those values are being squandered by an electorate that does not truly represent the people, who put their party before character. I write to you today as a supporter of the nationwide Tea Party movement.
I am not an elitist who got a tax cut, a domestic terrorist (as reported by the office of Homeland Security) or anything else. I am simply a young man trying to make it in a state with more barriers than bridges for opportunity, and in a country that continues to soak me with debt despite its immoral consequences.
I have watched as every year the ladder for me to climb to live in Vermont grows higher with no end in sight. Our government has spent past its tax capacity in regards to education and state spending, but we never see a correction like we'd make in our own lives. When we can't pay the bills, can we just go beg for a raise? The Vermont leaders can, but we can't. Every year the taxpayer and the citizenry lose, and I get to watch more of my friends leave for greener pastures. Why those opportunities can't be in Vermont is simple: The tax burden grows every year, stopping any job growth in its path.
This government growth continues on the federal level. Over the past nine years I have watched my future be sold off for two unconstitutional wars (one of which continues under the current president), an anti-capitalism bailout of bankers and automakers, and a stimulus designed to continue unsustainable consumer spending that lead to the collapse in the first place. All of this adds up to $11 trillion in deficit spending, and that doesn't include the money for entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, which adds up to $99 trillion or $330,000 each for every man, woman and child (Beck, Glenn. "Common Sense: The Case Against an Out of Control Government"). Neither of these figures includes the interest for this debt.
Now we hear rumblings about another $1 trillion for health care, which is unlikely to yield any cost savings, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
What does all of this mean? A $111 trillion debt to repay (without interest), and a reduced standard of living for every citizen. Where are our leaders on these issues? Whenever a discussion is opened, fingers are pointed at the opposition. Democrats who were against unsustainable spending for wars are now in full support of the same deficit policies. Republicans rail against spending, but they are also guilty. As long as it's a member of their party spending all this money, then it is okay.
I am here to say that doesn't make it okay. Either way, we are bankrupting our country and tearing America apart for both the current and future generations. When will we see that both parties are exactly the same, represented by special interests and corporations? That neither represents the people, and the vision laid out by the Founding Fathers in the U.S. Constitution? That is what the Tea Party movement is about: a return to liberty, individual self-reliance/personal responsibility, and a protest to stop the unsustainable spending in Montpelier and Washington.
It is time for America to wake up. We must see that the politicians who helped get us into this mess aren't the ones to get us out. It is time to build something new, a return to the founding principles of this great country. When we do that, a political revolution will begin, and we will truly be united.
Travis Simpson lives in Waltham. He is a member of Campaign for Liberty.
More than two centuries ago, our founders set forth a promise to our citizens of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Today those values are being squandered by an electorate that does not truly represent the people, who put their party before character. I write to you today as a supporter of the nationwide Tea Party movement.
I am not an elitist who got a tax cut, a domestic terrorist (as reported by the office of Homeland Security) or anything else. I am simply a young man trying to make it in a state with more barriers than bridges for opportunity, and in a country that continues to soak me with debt despite its immoral consequences.
I have watched as every year the ladder for me to climb to live in Vermont grows higher with no end in sight. Our government has spent past its tax capacity in regards to education and state spending, but we never see a correction like we'd make in our own lives. When we can't pay the bills, can we just go beg for a raise? The Vermont leaders can, but we can't. Every year the taxpayer and the citizenry lose, and I get to watch more of my friends leave for greener pastures. Why those opportunities can't be in Vermont is simple: The tax burden grows every year, stopping any job growth in its path.
This government growth continues on the federal level. Over the past nine years I have watched my future be sold off for two unconstitutional wars (one of which continues under the current president), an anti-capitalism bailout of bankers and automakers, and a stimulus designed to continue unsustainable consumer spending that lead to the collapse in the first place. All of this adds up to $11 trillion in deficit spending, and that doesn't include the money for entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, which adds up to $99 trillion or $330,000 each for every man, woman and child (Beck, Glenn. "Common Sense: The Case Against an Out of Control Government"). Neither of these figures includes the interest for this debt.
Now we hear rumblings about another $1 trillion for health care, which is unlikely to yield any cost savings, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
What does all of this mean? A $111 trillion debt to repay (without interest), and a reduced standard of living for every citizen. Where are our leaders on these issues? Whenever a discussion is opened, fingers are pointed at the opposition. Democrats who were against unsustainable spending for wars are now in full support of the same deficit policies. Republicans rail against spending, but they are also guilty. As long as it's a member of their party spending all this money, then it is okay.
I am here to say that doesn't make it okay. Either way, we are bankrupting our country and tearing America apart for both the current and future generations. When will we see that both parties are exactly the same, represented by special interests and corporations? That neither represents the people, and the vision laid out by the Founding Fathers in the U.S. Constitution? That is what the Tea Party movement is about: a return to liberty, individual self-reliance/personal responsibility, and a protest to stop the unsustainable spending in Montpelier and Washington.
It is time for America to wake up. We must see that the politicians who helped get us into this mess aren't the ones to get us out. It is time to build something new, a return to the founding principles of this great country. When we do that, a political revolution will begin, and we will truly be united.
Travis Simpson lives in Waltham. He is a member of Campaign for Liberty.
In : Columns
