The words ring true 234 years later. The Declaration of Independence remains among the boldest affirmations of God given rights ever authored by humans. It embodies our hopes, our dreams and our responsibilities to one another.
While Americans feast on hot dogs and beer and revel at the spectacle of fireworks and Sousa marches, it is important to remember why we party every 4th of July.
The first such occasion was no picnic. The men who signed that fateful document had thumbed their noses at King George III of England. They knew the ink on that declaration might as well have been signed in blood. They put "...our Lives, our Fortunes, our sacred Honor" on the line.
They had started a revolution that would reverberate around the world. America became a destination of dreams, a frontier of unbounded ambition, a land that celebrated the independence of every human soul.
Yes, we know many signers were engaging in some hypocrisy since they were slave owners demanding freedom from a King they saw as an unjust tyrant. But the wisest among them knew that the shackles of slavery would it time be undone. The genie was out of the bottle.
More than two centuries later, we tend to forget the notion that our government operates with "consent of the governed." We are endowed by our creator with the rights that make us the masters of our own destiny.
Those who believe any government has all the answers must have forgotten that it's up to us to provide those answers. It's "We the people," not "They, the government" (King, emperor, President, Congress, whatever).
We don't need another revolution. We have the mechanisms of civic purpose in our hands. Yes, lobbyists and other assorted "influence peddlers" have invested billions to get government in line with their agenda; yes the news media have become the modern incarnation of the "unruly mob." Politically correct speech has curbed our discourse in silly and sometimes ominous ways. But we still control the levers of power if we choose wield them. The ballot box only works when "We the People" take it seriously.
We have another chance this year to declare our independence from the tyranny of little minds and the public "servants" who have forgotten how to serve.
So again, I remind my fellow citizens that some 234 years later, that fateful declaration still lives; but only as long as we're willing to put our lives, "our Lives, our Fortune, and our sacred Honor" on the line once again.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
The Governor's End Game
David Paterson is a lame duck. But he is far from powerless because he has absolutely nothing to lose by slamming down the hammer. Nature abhors a vacuum; the Governor has filled the void with some of the first serious leadership Albany has seen in years.
By completing the unfinished budget with his own emergency spending bills, the Governor has gone where no lawmaker seeking re-election would dare to tread.
He's made the spending cuts to school aid, health care, and other programs that have become a sacred cow in the Empire State.
He has given SUNY schools the freedom to make their own tuition decisions, thus enabling the UB 2020 plan so desperately needed as an engine of economic growth in Western New York.
He has included wine sales for grocery stores, a revenue raiser for Albany that will likely prove popular among consumers.
He has also pushed through a 4% cap on the growth of local property taxes that fund school districts. While the intent is to control the growth of the local tax burden, we should point out that a 4% cap almost guarantees that property taxes will increase by that rate every year.
Not too long ago, this lame duck governor proposed permanent fixes to the New York State fiscal fiasco, including legislation giving his successors the power to unilaterally cut spending when the Legislature fails to balance the budget. It would seem he's found a way to do it already.
He further proposes reforms to preclude any state borrowing when the budget goes into the red. That would force lawmakers to make the same difficult decisions that face every individual taxpaying household when the cash flow runs short. Many New Yorkers have learned the hard way that credit cards don't solve the problem. They only "kick the can down the road."
So this man who was on the verge of resigning a short time ago, now towers over Albany. He is the blind man blessed with more vision that all of his legislative colleagues combined.
Like it or not, lawmakers now have a choice of accepting the Governor's bill, or shutting down New York State Government. So they really have no choice. They can blame the lame duck Governor. We can give him credit.
Only one question: Governor, what took you so long?
By completing the unfinished budget with his own emergency spending bills, the Governor has gone where no lawmaker seeking re-election would dare to tread.
He's made the spending cuts to school aid, health care, and other programs that have become a sacred cow in the Empire State.
He has given SUNY schools the freedom to make their own tuition decisions, thus enabling the UB 2020 plan so desperately needed as an engine of economic growth in Western New York.
He has included wine sales for grocery stores, a revenue raiser for Albany that will likely prove popular among consumers.
He has also pushed through a 4% cap on the growth of local property taxes that fund school districts. While the intent is to control the growth of the local tax burden, we should point out that a 4% cap almost guarantees that property taxes will increase by that rate every year.
Not too long ago, this lame duck governor proposed permanent fixes to the New York State fiscal fiasco, including legislation giving his successors the power to unilaterally cut spending when the Legislature fails to balance the budget. It would seem he's found a way to do it already.
He further proposes reforms to preclude any state borrowing when the budget goes into the red. That would force lawmakers to make the same difficult decisions that face every individual taxpaying household when the cash flow runs short. Many New Yorkers have learned the hard way that credit cards don't solve the problem. They only "kick the can down the road."
So this man who was on the verge of resigning a short time ago, now towers over Albany. He is the blind man blessed with more vision that all of his legislative colleagues combined.
Like it or not, lawmakers now have a choice of accepting the Governor's bill, or shutting down New York State Government. So they really have no choice. They can blame the lame duck Governor. We can give him credit.
Only one question: Governor, what took you so long?
Monday, June 21, 2010
Capping the Well of Red Ink
Finally!
Lame-duck Governor David Paterson now proposes new legislation to cap the well of red ink in New York. The proposal is long overdue in light of one budget crisis after another.
For too long, New York Governors and lawmakers have engaged in a minuet of self deception, skirting around the financial reality that no one can forever spend more than he has. We have seen a myriad of fiscal tricks, such as selling state prisons to the Dormitory Authority, raiding supposedly dedicated taxes for so-called "emergency" spending, and those pie in the sky bond issues that never seem to get the job done.
Now, Paterson has awakened to the realization that this cannot continue. Since he only has a few months left in the Governor's Mansion, there is little political capital at risk with his proposal to require a balanced budget and give future governors the power to unilaterally trim spending when the budget falls out of whack. Even more appealing, is the provision that cuts off Albany's power to borrow further to close fiscal gaps.
These are the kinds of rules that ordinary taxpayers have to obey in their everyday lives. If the household budget runs short, you don't borrow more to buy a new car or appliance; you trim your spending, look for new sources of income, and wait until you can afford to fulfill those cravings for new vacations, services or belongings.
Smoke and mirrors don't add up to sensible bottom lines. Yet fiscal sleight of hand has been the rule in Albany, rather than the exception. The old methods are long overdue for a substantive makeover. The rest of us have to get real in a time of tight money, scarce jobs and lean family budgets. State lawmakers have to understand that gimmicky taxes, fees and borrowing only work in the short term. In the long view, they chase taxpayers out of the Empire State, leaving fewer behind to pay down the mounting debt.
The New York State Legislature has proven itself incapable of producing balanced budgets in a timely fashion. As a result, local schools and municipalities find themselves gasping for air in a mire of uncertainty.
We all remember President Harry Truman's comment that "the buck stops here." Perhaps we should take a page from the Truman Doctrine of accountability and put this on the shoulders of the Governor, whoever it may be in years to come. At least then, we know exactly whom to blame.
Now comes the bigger question. Will a chaotic and self-absorbed State Legislature be willing to cede more fiscal authority to the Office of the Governor? Does David Paterson have any political leverage left to effect such a reform? What do the contenders for Paterson's job have to say about this? Stay tuned.
Lame-duck Governor David Paterson now proposes new legislation to cap the well of red ink in New York. The proposal is long overdue in light of one budget crisis after another.
For too long, New York Governors and lawmakers have engaged in a minuet of self deception, skirting around the financial reality that no one can forever spend more than he has. We have seen a myriad of fiscal tricks, such as selling state prisons to the Dormitory Authority, raiding supposedly dedicated taxes for so-called "emergency" spending, and those pie in the sky bond issues that never seem to get the job done.
Now, Paterson has awakened to the realization that this cannot continue. Since he only has a few months left in the Governor's Mansion, there is little political capital at risk with his proposal to require a balanced budget and give future governors the power to unilaterally trim spending when the budget falls out of whack. Even more appealing, is the provision that cuts off Albany's power to borrow further to close fiscal gaps.
These are the kinds of rules that ordinary taxpayers have to obey in their everyday lives. If the household budget runs short, you don't borrow more to buy a new car or appliance; you trim your spending, look for new sources of income, and wait until you can afford to fulfill those cravings for new vacations, services or belongings.
Smoke and mirrors don't add up to sensible bottom lines. Yet fiscal sleight of hand has been the rule in Albany, rather than the exception. The old methods are long overdue for a substantive makeover. The rest of us have to get real in a time of tight money, scarce jobs and lean family budgets. State lawmakers have to understand that gimmicky taxes, fees and borrowing only work in the short term. In the long view, they chase taxpayers out of the Empire State, leaving fewer behind to pay down the mounting debt.
The New York State Legislature has proven itself incapable of producing balanced budgets in a timely fashion. As a result, local schools and municipalities find themselves gasping for air in a mire of uncertainty.
We all remember President Harry Truman's comment that "the buck stops here." Perhaps we should take a page from the Truman Doctrine of accountability and put this on the shoulders of the Governor, whoever it may be in years to come. At least then, we know exactly whom to blame.
Now comes the bigger question. Will a chaotic and self-absorbed State Legislature be willing to cede more fiscal authority to the Office of the Governor? Does David Paterson have any political leverage left to effect such a reform? What do the contenders for Paterson's job have to say about this? Stay tuned.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Addicted in New York
Imagine that! Governor David Paterson believes smokers have more cash to burn! And so he proposes to add another $1.60 to the price of a pack of smokes by taxing the addiction even more.
So does anyone see the irony of a state addicted to taxes deciding to punish taxpayers for a personal addiction?
I have never been a smoker. It's a nasty and deadly habit in my view. Most who indulge in the habit are trapped by the nicotine. Many would like to quit, and perhaps Governor Paterson and his cohorts will persuade a few to pursue a healthier lifestyle.
But it's also clear that New York State will depend on hundreds of millions of extra dollars destined to go up in smoke with the latest money grab. While smokers will choke over this... all of us are choking under a heavy dark cloud of taxation already.
Albany has decided to shove more responsibilities back onto local municipalities which depend on local property taxes to pay the bills. State aid for hospitals and schools will no doubt suffer; yet no thought has been given to trimming the state's bloated bureacracy, which at last count carried nearly 200 thousand employees on the payroll.
Borrowing hardly seems a good idea either for a state that's already up to its ears in debt.
The budget will be finished by June 28th through the Governor's last "emergency" spending bill, because it now comes as an ultimatum to recalcitrant lawmakers. Did anyone in Albany ever hear the wise man's advice? He said: "when you're deep in the hole, it's time to stop digging."
I leaves me bemused to consider that a state deeply addicted to taxes, fees and unfunded mandates, would decide to further punish the nicotine-bound for their addictions. On one hand, the state proposes to curb an unhealthy habit. On the other hand, Albany will feed on the very habit it proposes to discourage. Goose? Golden Egg? Killed? Hello, does anybody get it?
Perhaps voters need to kick their habit of returning incumbents to make the same mistakes all over again. There's a chance, albeit a slim one.
So does anyone see the irony of a state addicted to taxes deciding to punish taxpayers for a personal addiction?
I have never been a smoker. It's a nasty and deadly habit in my view. Most who indulge in the habit are trapped by the nicotine. Many would like to quit, and perhaps Governor Paterson and his cohorts will persuade a few to pursue a healthier lifestyle.
But it's also clear that New York State will depend on hundreds of millions of extra dollars destined to go up in smoke with the latest money grab. While smokers will choke over this... all of us are choking under a heavy dark cloud of taxation already.
Albany has decided to shove more responsibilities back onto local municipalities which depend on local property taxes to pay the bills. State aid for hospitals and schools will no doubt suffer; yet no thought has been given to trimming the state's bloated bureacracy, which at last count carried nearly 200 thousand employees on the payroll.
Borrowing hardly seems a good idea either for a state that's already up to its ears in debt.
The budget will be finished by June 28th through the Governor's last "emergency" spending bill, because it now comes as an ultimatum to recalcitrant lawmakers. Did anyone in Albany ever hear the wise man's advice? He said: "when you're deep in the hole, it's time to stop digging."
I leaves me bemused to consider that a state deeply addicted to taxes, fees and unfunded mandates, would decide to further punish the nicotine-bound for their addictions. On one hand, the state proposes to curb an unhealthy habit. On the other hand, Albany will feed on the very habit it proposes to discourage. Goose? Golden Egg? Killed? Hello, does anybody get it?
Perhaps voters need to kick their habit of returning incumbents to make the same mistakes all over again. There's a chance, albeit a slim one.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
"Small" People, & Big Blunders
Thank God for the "small" people, about whom BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg so devoutly cares. Now he's apologized for that remark, which simply greased the skids a little further for the Big Polluter of the Gulf.
From the Gospel of Luke, the greatest of us said this: "If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
At the risk of sounding a bit preachy, I might be bold enough to say that I am proud to be among the "small" people who are capable of great and noble deeds and thoughts. It seems that the apologies flow like so much crude these days from the "BIG" people. The small people have no need to apologize; even less do they need to hear empty expressions of regret from the "BIG" people who have made such a BIG mess of things.
$20 Billion itself is "small" when stacked up against the epic damage that has been cast upon the waters. Actions speak louder than words. Maybe these clueless executives should talk less and do more to clean up their act.
From the Gospel of Luke, the greatest of us said this: "If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
At the risk of sounding a bit preachy, I might be bold enough to say that I am proud to be among the "small" people who are capable of great and noble deeds and thoughts. It seems that the apologies flow like so much crude these days from the "BIG" people. The small people have no need to apologize; even less do they need to hear empty expressions of regret from the "BIG" people who have made such a BIG mess of things.
$20 Billion itself is "small" when stacked up against the epic damage that has been cast upon the waters. Actions speak louder than words. Maybe these clueless executives should talk less and do more to clean up their act.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Gushers
It occurs to me that the ongoing gusher in the Gulf of Mexico is a visual metaphor for the federal treasury, which leaks dollars at a rate that would have been beyond our imagination in previous years.
The late Republican Senator Everett Dirksen used to say: "A billion here, a billion there, after awhile you're talking REAL money!
How quaint that sounds in light of the TRILLIONS now leaking out of Uncle Sam's piggy bank.
Does this money really exist? Who's going to wind up paying the national debt? President Obama can lecture BP about profligate leaks of oil and the resultant leak of billions from the Gulf region economy. But what's going to happen when the exponential growth of the national debt catches up with all of us?
I am truly astounded to see prices for new cars that exceed what I paid for my first house! If there was anything valuable about the financial meltdown in America, it was the cold dose of reality that broke the fever of individuals who were on a debt binge. While individuals and families have become more frugal as a result, I fear the lesson has been lost on official Washington, still mired in a morass of insatiable and monstrous appetites for programs we can no longer afford.
While we put off the purchase of a new car, a vacation trip or re-modeling project, Congress continues to reach for the unaffordable. I think many average Americans get it now. Our grandparents knew what it was like to live in a Great Depression, where the next meal was seldom a certainty, let alone a good job or decent lifestyle. We have gotten soft in our own prosperity. A touch of prudence and patience would do none of us any harm.
At this point, our desires still exceed our reach. I've never been a pessimist (one who is rarely disappointed). But I think a little realism is in order, from The White House, to Capitol Hill, to Wall Street, Albany and Main Street.
This is still a nation of unlimited potential. But let's not be stupid about the next adventures and challenges we are to face.
The late Republican Senator Everett Dirksen used to say: "A billion here, a billion there, after awhile you're talking REAL money!
How quaint that sounds in light of the TRILLIONS now leaking out of Uncle Sam's piggy bank.
Does this money really exist? Who's going to wind up paying the national debt? President Obama can lecture BP about profligate leaks of oil and the resultant leak of billions from the Gulf region economy. But what's going to happen when the exponential growth of the national debt catches up with all of us?
I am truly astounded to see prices for new cars that exceed what I paid for my first house! If there was anything valuable about the financial meltdown in America, it was the cold dose of reality that broke the fever of individuals who were on a debt binge. While individuals and families have become more frugal as a result, I fear the lesson has been lost on official Washington, still mired in a morass of insatiable and monstrous appetites for programs we can no longer afford.
While we put off the purchase of a new car, a vacation trip or re-modeling project, Congress continues to reach for the unaffordable. I think many average Americans get it now. Our grandparents knew what it was like to live in a Great Depression, where the next meal was seldom a certainty, let alone a good job or decent lifestyle. We have gotten soft in our own prosperity. A touch of prudence and patience would do none of us any harm.
At this point, our desires still exceed our reach. I've never been a pessimist (one who is rarely disappointed). But I think a little realism is in order, from The White House, to Capitol Hill, to Wall Street, Albany and Main Street.
This is still a nation of unlimited potential. But let's not be stupid about the next adventures and challenges we are to face.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)