In his state of the Union speech last night, President Obama proposed a spending freeze as a solution to the rising national debt. He said that this would affect discretionary government programs, but that Medicaid, Medicare and spending related to national security would not be affected. He said that this freeze would go into effect in 2011 when the economy would be stronger.
In reading this segment of the President’s State of the Union speech, I generally agree with the proposal. I wrote an article on December 10, 2009 criticizing H. J. Res.45 which authorized the increase of the national debt. It is refreshing to hear the President in his State of the Union speech advocate a curtailment of government spending and say that we need to examine our money management and eliminate the spending which is not appropriate. You’d think he read my article! I know he didn’t; so I won’t flatter myself. This idea goes back much further than my December 10 article.
Although I generally agree with the sentiment, I wonder about its implementation. Good financial management is the sort of thing that households across the nation are practicing, but here, we are talking about a household that is around three hundred million strong. Everyone is clamoring for their share of the pie. Another concern I have is the health care being considered in Congress. This bill carries with it a large price tag, and if it passes, I am concerned that the national debt may increase despite the spending freeze. I hope that the President can implement the spending freeze equitably and that the freeze will recognize our most important priorities. At the same time, I hope that it will at least stop the growth of the national debt. These are some of the challenges the President will face.
If this spending freeze is implemented, bills on our expenditures will come before the Congress. This is where Politivote fits into the situation. We will obtain the data on these bills and anyone can register for free and vote for or against these bills. We will then send the aggregate of these votes to legislators. Now is the time to be involved to make sure that the government recognizes your priorities.

A quick shot won't fix the health care system. Only carefully debated, deliberated legislation will solve the bureaucratic mess of health care.

An article appeared in the July 22 issue Associated Press National about the present health care crisis and the measures being taken by President Obama and the congress to fix it. Obama claims that the costs of Medicare and Medicaid are the “driving force behind our federal deficit,” and that these programs need to be restrained in order to bring the national debt under control.” However, there is a struggle between trying to cap spending on these programs and control the growth of the deficit, and the follow through on Obama’s long time promise of health care coverage for everyone. A solution being considered before congress is higher taxes. However, it is unclear as to which income segments of the population will have to assume the burden.

In reading this article, it is apparent that no one really knows the one solution that will solve the problems of the health care system. Solutions to this problem are being proposed and debated before congress, but no one so far has found the magical cure. (Pardon the lapse into medical terminology)

As a society, Americans want their problems to be solved quickly. We go to fast food places and expect our order to be ready within minutes. We constantly seek after and purchase faster computers that will perform our downloading and internet surfing at greater speeds. We become impatient if the guy driving ahead of us slows his vehicle for whatever reason. In many cases, our expectation for an instant and favorable outcome is rewarded. Under these circumstances, the virtue of patience is lost. This is evident in the 55 percent approval rating the President is receiving. The American people want quick and drastic change to the health care system, and because it is not happening, they are growing impatient with the government. We want health care to become more affordable and accessible right now.

We at Politivote would suggest that the health care crisis took time to materialize, and so, it will take time to resolve. There will doubtless be many pieces of legislation before congress that will purport to solve the crisis, and this legislation will be debated, amended, and/or abandoned. We at Politivote believe that a rush to judgment on how our political leaders are handling the crisis is premature and ignores its complexity.

Source for information: Associated Press National, July 22, 2009