12/31/2009 7:00 am
POV
Term Limits: Channeling Voter Rage in the New Decade, by Liz Peek
Now that the Aughts are coming to a close, what will the Tens bring us?
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Editor’s Note: Liz Peek is a financial columnist.
As the bubbles go flat and the balloons fizzle, we will step, bruised and cautious, into a new decade. Few will mourn the passing of the "aughts," years that brought us the deadliest terrorist act in our country’s history and one of the costliest financial meltdowns of all times. The destruction of the World Trade Towers on 9/11/2001 changed forever how we live and how we view the world. How fitting, and how alarming, that the decade closes with yet another Al Quaeda attack on U.S. citizens.Almost as destructive has been a recession so deep and broad that it crippled nearly every economy around the world, uniquely inspiring the first-ever global stimulus effort. This, at least, is cause for optimism.
What will the Tens bring us? Unhappily, ongoing terrorism and the lingering impact of the Great Recession are likely to dominate politics and economics for some time. Middle Eastern countries confront volatile demographics – with some 60% of their populations typically under the age of 18. Unless these nations can generate enormous numbers of new jobs, the young and disenfranchised will doubtless find continued refuge in extremism.
While on alert for Islamic terrorists, Western nations will have to dismantle the economic props constructed during the past two years. This will not be easy. For nations like England, Ireland, Spain and Greece, whose inflated borrowings have undermined fiscal health, it will mean a period of privation. Even Japan, which boasts the world’s second-largest economy, will borrow more than half of its trillion-dollar record budget this year, for the first time since World War II.
The United States has historically been immune to such pressures. Because we have the world’s largest economy (and tax base), the dollar has long been the preferred reserve currency. During 2009, with financial markets in freefall, our Treasury notes briefly offered a negative return. That is, investors paid to own these securities, which they deemed the safest on earth.
Today, the United States confronts a deteriorating balance sheet, a moth-eaten infrastructure and an aging population. The government borrowed heavily (and appropriately, initially) to stave off a financial collapse. Additional spending authority has zoomed through a socially progressive Congress concerned about rising unemployment and a potential "double-dip." Consequently, the president just signed a bill raising the debt ceiling to over $12 trillion.
As the economy slowly recovers, even our most careless legislators must recognize the need to rein in spending. At the same time, they are urged to widen the safety net, to insure the uninsured, to provide for those without jobs and to keep those unable to pay their mortgages in their homes. Fulfilling all these generous impulses, unhappily, will ultimately threaten our financial health. Only by boosting the private sector and creating new jobs will the United States be able to afford such largesse.
In the next year, this tension will underlie every policy dispute, as it has the controversy over the health-care bill. Americans are anxious about our deficit spending, and are calling on our leaders to bring down our debt. So far, Congress has been deaf to this desire, instead continuing to pass bills laden with earmarks and special favors. They provide for their constituents, and funders, at the expense of the nation.
This conflict grabbed the nation’s attention last week. Majority Leader Harry Reid handed out inexcusable pay-offs to balky colleagues in order to ram the unpopular health-care bill through the Senate. How terrible must this legislation be, Americans wonder, if such bribes are necessary, and if even supportive moderates like Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins have been driven off?
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All I can say is "Thank God for Liz Peek and her great articles!" You swoop in and deliver sunshine when it is desperately needed!
Lots of blunders this year for President Obama (Michael Crowley)
Pushing the Israeli-Arab process too hard
Promising to close Guantanamo Bay within a year
Demonstrating that Iran isn’t acting in good faith.
Resetting with Russia
The drone campaign against radical Islamists in Pakistan
Obama’s acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize followed by his escalating the war in Afghanistan
Obama’s personal letter to Kim Jong had no demonstrable effect beyond inflating the ego of the North Korean leader.
Liz, what we know now is that this administration gets huge green stars for doing everything humanly possible to wrecklessly spend the taxpayer’s money. $15 trillion and nothing to show for it. The TARP worked but beyond that this administration has bailed out the large companies and they continue to do business the same way. It is clear to most that this administration is clueless when it comes to addressing a deep recession.
It also comes as no surprise that Al Qaeda has stepped up their quest to kill Americans. As Obama and Napolitano tried to erase the name "War on Terror" and "Terrorists" Al Qaeda seemed intent on reintroducing themselves. George W. Bush put in excellent security measures to track these terrorists as they were directly responsible for capturing and arresting Al Qaeda members over the past two months. Unfortunately, because of our ridiculous "political correctness" rules, Fort Hood was not spared and 13 people were killed in the name of jihad. Someone please tell this ivy league administration that there is, indeed, a war on terror and Americans are asking why Dodd cut the aviation security budget in July (the TSA’s explosives detection systems) in order to fund a political constituency.
President Obama has been a failure in his first year in my opinion. He gave himself a grade of a solid B plus in his first year. Obviously he hasn’t a clue that the majority of the American people gave him a solid D minus. He has done nothing to help middle America but he has taken care of his campaign donors with pork at the beginning of his presidency and at the end of his first year compliments of the American taxpayers.
My prediction for 2010 will be that a double dip recession is in front of us, inflation is inevitable and we will see a peaceful demonstration by millions of Americans marching and protesting in Washington DC to show their outrage and anger over politicians who have been elected to serve the people and end up serving only themselves to insure re-election. The bribes made by this administration to buy votes for their legacy healthcare bill are shameful and exudes a Chicago way of getting a bill passed. I believe America has had enough of Barack Obama and his administration. The Congress now owns the lowest rating. Americans are speaking out!
Shelby Steele wrote a wonderful essay recently. I hope you will take the time to read it.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704254604574614540488450188.html
ALWAYS A HUGE FAN OF WHAT YOU SAY LIZ PEEK!!! Your articles are the only ones I religously follow because common sense is what you are always about.
I used to really enjoy the debate and banter that went on at Wowowow but since the constant playing of the race card started I tend to avoid coming here much. There is no point when we plug our ears to each other and stop listening and when I say ‘We’ I mean every American no matter your political affiliation.
How did it become legal in America to run and stay in public office when there is such an apparent reign of corruption among many people we are supposed to trust - in all parites?
What does it say about Americans when we ask our representatives to do something as simple as ‘read the bill - understand the language and the consequences BEFORE you support it?
Worse yet what does it say about us when some are so determined to ‘change’ America they will do anything - even publically buy votes - just to get something the "President" wants through? Never mind the debt burden, never mind the future costs and absolute lack of sustainability - just ‘winning’ at any cost.
Got news for some folks out there. WE, the regular American people are coming for all of you who did not listen. WE, the regular American people are organizing and we are coming. You will listen and those of you who did not are in for the fight of your political life if you think that WE the people are going to take it anymore. We are not. We are done. Things are gonna change and we are taking our Republic back.
As a footnote I am talking directly to every Democrat and Republican who thought ‘business as usual’ in Washington was acceptable. It is not and I now really do have the greatest of hope that change is coming to America - and it will be a good one. AND NO, I do not blame Barack Obama for his lack of leadership, inexperience and inability to hold his senate and congress together as this situation was taking place long before I ever knew he existed.
My New Year’s resolution this years is to help working towards kicking out as many members of this current Senate and Congress as I can.
For the first time in my long years I know this is one resolution I will keep and I hope many here from Wowowow will join me in raising the bar of what we must demand from our public servants. If you have a good public servant in your area lets support them together. if you have scum …. which many do right across America - lets join together and start cleaning up our house and senate.
Thank you Liz…..Trying so hard to look positive about the New Year. This past one has taken it’s toll on me and my family! We feel as if few in governement understand what we have been through and what we have sacrificed.
We have already made a vow that no candidate will get our vote unless they have been a business person themselves or have convinced us they understand our world.
There are a few good ones …in my state ( Greg Walden ) that I will fight to keep in DC who have personally fought hard for us…so term limits may not alwasy be the answer..but character means EVERYTHING.
S J, Obama’s inexperience stood out this year.
No doubt our system of election-to-retirement perks is out of hand. Term limits wouldn’t be an obstacle from keeping the money flowing to politicians, and the electorate would still be asked asked to fund their “favorite sons.” Politicians argue they use skills learned in ongoing politics — fundraising, past policymaking and relationship-building —to plan and set new legislation. Also, it limits the choices of people the public has to vote for. People need to vote on issues , not the person with the snazzy ads. People tend to vote for the candidates with short easy names and vote "yes" when they don’t really understand an issue.
From 1790 to 1898, the turnover rate in Congress ranged from 30 percent to 76 percent. By 1989, it was a mere eight percent in the U.S. House. Unfortunately, the longer a person spends in Congress, the more attached he becomes to the power and perks of Washington. Those perks are more than nice. Lobbyists spent $365,000 daily just on health care. Because of lobbyists, we see first hand how they actually create legislative gridlock. If we have term limits, we will simply have more inexperienced legislators no one has ever heard of and who will also accept lavish trips, jewelry, and other perks in exchange for their support.
Contain the lobbyists’ power, and we will have better representation. Better, not great. It would be a start.