Fiscally Shaky Ground Is Likely To Produce Quicksand For The American Taxpayer

Here's an interesting article and some points by a conservative who actually talks like he's a conservative:

Voinovich began by pointing out that when he came to the Senate in 1999, "the national debt stood at $5.6 trillion. Today . . . the national debt stands at $8.4 trillion...an increase in the national debt of about 50 percent..."

Some members believe that the solution is to grow the economy out of the problem, that by cutting taxes permanently, the economy will eventually raise enough revenue to offset any current losses to the U.S. Treasury. I respectfully disagree with that assertion. . . . In November 2005 former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan testified before the Joint Economic Committee and told Congress: 'We should not be cutting taxes by borrowing.' . . . Instead of making the tax cuts permanent, we should be leveling with the American people about the fiscally shaky ground we are on."

Anyone that lives in earthquake country knows that anything built on landfill is doomed becomes it is liquified when the earth starts to shake. Anyone care to wait for the shaking to really start before we fix the problems heaped on us by the W, Rove and Co? But wait for it...Voinovich has a big finish:

Voinovich finished with these words: "I have to say this, and I know it is controversial, but if you look at the extraordinary costs that we had with the war and homeland security and Katrina, the logical thing that one would think about is to ask for a temporary tax increase to pay for them. Did you hear that? Ask for a temporary tax to pay for it, instead of saying we will let our kids take care of it; we will let our grandchildren take care of it.

"No, we are not doing it. The people who are sacrificing today in this country are the ones who have lost men and women in our wars. The people who have sacrificed today are the ones who have come back without their arms and legs -- thousands of them. They are making the sacrifice.

"The question I ask is, what sacrifice are we making? Anyone in the know who is watching us has to wonder about our character, our intellectual honesty, our concern about our national security, our nation's competitiveness in the global marketplace now and in the future, and, last but not least, our don't-give-a-darn attitude about the standard of living and quality of life of our children and grandchildren.

"The question is, are we willing to be honest with ourselves and the American people and make these tough decisions?"

The answer from Congress was to pass a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts for capital gains and dividends -- a $70 billion package that mainly benefits those with annual incomes over $200,000.

Voinovich was one of three Republicans who joined most Democrats in opposing the budget-buster. His candor is unfortunately not contagious.