• America is experiencing big deficit budget caused by financial crisis,
• To plug this America needs money immediately. One of potential source is tax revenue,
• The government can’t do this due to the rebuff of Republican majority in Congress,
• This will keep the prosperity of the rich during the recovery in the expense of benefits for the poor, competitive education, infrastructure and so forth,
• Democracy makes this happen.
America is in big trouble now. The unemployment is still high reaching nearly 10%. Their infrastructures are deteriorating. Their education is lagging behind other developed countries. To date America is still number one, but its future as the world’s largest economy and superpower will cast doubt.
In Newsweek’s world’s best country, America ranked 11, while Finland reached the top of the chart. The magazine analyzed education, health, quality of life, economic competitiveness, and political environment for the measurement. The ability of reading, math and science of American 15-year-old teenagers also lags behind the teenagers of other developed countries. For all categories, American boys and girls invariably ranked beyond top ten.
To a worse degree, Americans seem not to realize how bad their situation. And politics as a tool to fix nation’s problem, even exacerbates the conditions. Instead of solving problems, the politic come to be another problem.
As matter of fact, the problems have been well defined by American pundits itself.
To handle the high unemployment the economy need stimulus. In line with Keynesian economy, during the crisis it is impossible for private sector to expand their business, so the government must involve in reviving business by government spending. And to do this the government needs money.
For that to happen, tax revenue will be the plausible option. Certainly, the tax doesn’t stem from the poor, the unemployment, but it will hail from the rich. This is so simple idea. However, to obtain money through tax revenue became problem, since President Bush had enacted the temporary tax cut in 2001 and would be expired in 2010. Accordingly, 2010 is the schedule to lift the tax cut and the time is right to do this. Unfortunately, this much-needed policy can’t be undertaken. American rich embodied in Republic party rebuffed the tax cut revocation; they want to extent it for the next two years.
And they have got what they want. Surprisingly, the Americans elected the more Republican Congress members in November mid-term election. Republicans agenda is loud and clear on supporting the sustainable tax-cut policy and the Americans know what the consequences are, if they listen to their pundits’ opinion.
America is the land of democracy. Other countries always refer to America in practicing it. However at present a good example of the downside of democracy comes from the very same country.
American politics shows us government’s policy might head to the wrong place. One of the reasons is that the government has to share power with the lawmakers. And in certain condition the government likely succumbs to the interest of a handful of people. It proved true in America now where the policy is stirred by the rich.
Lee Kuan Yew, former leader of Singapore had a long time noticed the downside of democracy, particularly on elections process. To win the election, much money is inevitably needed. And only the rich can provide such a lot of money. And Lee said that the higher the cost of being elected to public office, the less clean the government will be. Logically speaking, there is no free lunch; the elected leaders/lawmakers have to pay back the money through the policy they made.
Democracy might be irreplaceable because freedom is our rights. In broad sense, democracy is much better than dictatorship. However, given the bad facts in American democracy, it is the time to take democracy with a grain of salt.
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