Is there a difference between a
promise made and a promise kept?
This seems to be a foolish
question, but it is becoming a critical one in this upcoming election. I am reminded of one of those homespun
sayings my Mother used when I would wish for some change in my
circumstances. “If wishes were horses,
beggars would ride,” she would scold, her meaning clear. It is easy to wish for something, but if all
it took were wishing then everyone would have what they want.
In 2008 the Democrat’s swept
into office promising hope and change, a new civility in politics, and
transparency in government. They
promised to redress the failures of the Republicans, to resolve the financial
crisis, address the problems with health care, bolster US stature in the world,
and shore up the sagging safety nets the government first created during the
last great depression.
Today I saw a poster
with the latest round of promises. All
seem wonderfully … well… PROMISING, just like those made back in 2008. The President will create 1 million new manufacturing
jobs? Train 2 million new workers, give
tax breaks, etc. What I don’t see is a
clear plan to keep these promises any better than the ones he’s failed to keep from
the last election. Yet all his party are
behind him, except for those who are worried about reelection and want to put a
little space in between themselves and the President and VP during the
campaign. I would like to take a few
minutes to talk about these grand illusions the President's campaign wants to
call promises.
Starting with the first, and
grandest… Most of the Government doesn’t manufacture a darn thing. There are some exceptions, but mostly what
the Government does is spend money (also called tax dollars) on buying stuff,
or paying its bills. Off the top of my
head the only manufacturing jobs I know the President can actually create are
either in the Department of Treasury or the Department of Defense, and I am not
sure we want to create a million new jobs printing money or building the goods
of war in government facilities.
We are going to train 2 million
new workers in Community colleges to fill what?
We have about 9% unemployment now; we have millions of workers out of
work because the jobs aren’t there. Will
half of these people be the ones who go to work in the million new jobs that
will magically appear during the President’s next term? Do you now need an associate’s degree to work
in a manufacturing job?
How about giving a tax break to
a company that invests in America? Just
about every company with an office somewhere in America would qualify for that
break, because they are employing Americans, unless they are using illegal
aliens, and they have supported the building industry by leasing or buying
office space. If we give all these tax
breaks how will we pay the million new people printing the new money? Oh wait, they can just keep some of the
money they print!
Double America’s exports? What are we making that the third world can
afford, or the developed countries can’t get cheaper from China?
Finally, how many Presidents
have promised to cut our dependence on foreign oil? I can remember back to the 1973 embargo and the
55 mph speed limits. We’ve done, on the
grand scale, next to nothing to change America’s appetite or need for cheap
oil.
I wonder how many naïve,
simple, people will buy into these illusions, dismiss the failure to keep
the last set, and actually believe the President has either the
ability or commitment to actually fulfill them?
