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Representative Ron Forster |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Heading toward Bankruptcy?2005 General AssemblyNovember 30, 2005 -- Ringgold, GA – I know that I deal mainly with state government issues, but I would like to express my (in my opinion it appears that) view on the direction our federal government. In the past few decades our country has gone from being the largest creditor to other nations around the world - to the largest debtor nation! Every work day an additional two billion dollars of our debt is financed by people and countries other than ourselves. Why is this? Because of the budget and trade deficits. The situation will only get worse as unfunded liabilities for Social Security are no longer covered by cash flow from excess Social Security premium payments versus current benefits payments. Presently, we are using this excess to fund the budget and Medicare deficits that the sale of treasury notes to the U.S. citizens and foreigners do not cover. However, as the baby boomers soon start to retire in record numbers there will be a negative cash flow. The Social Security problem is exacerbated by a birth rate which is below the replacement rate needed to maintain a stable number of citizens. Additionally people are living much longer. When Social Security was started in 1935 the average life expectancy for men was 58 and for women 62. Now it is 79. The retirement age for younger workers is being increased, too slowly in my opinion, to age 67. Had the retirement age been periodically indexed workers today would have to wait until age 73 to collect full Social Security benefits. All three factors are typical of most developed countries. So they too will increasingly need to dip into their reserves which means they will need to cash in their U.S. Treasury notes; yet another drain on our cash flow. Medicare is a huge drain on our Treasury. At the time, it was started in 1965, President Johnson said, “an extra $500 million of new spending would pose no problem”. Well we now spend $294 BILLION yearly! Medicare is a major part of an out of control explosion of healthcare costs (we spend 55% more on healthcare per capita than any other country in the world). The most expensive component of healthcare is our older population (the elderly represent 13% of our population but consume 40% of the medical costs). Again, factors of baby boomers reaching age 65, decreasing birth rates, and increasing life expectancies are driving up the long term costs. What are our elected officials in Washington doing about this? Well, they did well for our projected budget deficit for fiscal year 2005 (ended 9/30/05) and reduced it from $427 billion to $333 billion. However, that was before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Federal government expenditures are up 8% which is twice the inflation rate but they are reducing taxes. I can understand doing that as a temporary move to help bring us out of a recession but we’ve been out of the recession for several years. I am a conservative and one of our basic tenets is lower taxes. However, sometimes what my fellow conservatives (check their voting records) forget is that a preceding tenet of conservatism is smaller government. Once you achieve that then you reduce taxes. It’s like respect; it must be earned. The 2002 Farm Bill is an example of why we have such deficits. The 1996 Farm Bill contained a plan to basically eliminate crop subsidies by 2002. Instead the 2002 Farm Bill created a projected record $25 billion in subsidies in fiscal ‘06; most of which go to large corporations vs. small farmers. Then this past summer Congress passed a transportation bill which contained 6300 “earmarks” (another word for pork) costing $24 billion. To his credit President Bush had the guts to propose an alternative to the growing Social Security problem. Many politicians said nothing. The Democrats criticized and some even deny there is a problem? Talk about ignorance, pandering and/or abdication of duty. Are you concerned? Syndicated Columnist Charlie Reese says, that instead of discussing serious problems, “most Americans like to talk about TV, Michael Jackson and sports!” I tend to agree and suspect few who get this particular newspaper have read this far. If you have thank you so much and read on! I’ve tried to minimize opinion and have used credible sources for my information. I make no claim of being an expert but I have been more involved than the average citizen because of my 5 years with such issues in the Georgia House of Representatives. While I am a sports fan, the truth of the matter is that in the big scheme of things - regardless of the sport - whether any team wins the championship or loses almost every game makes little (if any) difference. The same can be said about what happens on the next episode of the television show CSI, or if there will be another Harry Potter book. However if you & I and increasing numbers of other well informed/objective thinkers who really care about this country are even partially correct it could make a traumatic difference! If you’re with me so far - what can we do? The good news is there are many, many things we can do to make a difference: First, become aware of the issues. Reading Newt Gingrich’s book “Saving Lives & Saving Money” is a good start. Almost daily there are respected columnists supplying proof statements of the problems and suggesting remedies. Second, don’t get too hung up on partisan politics. The differences are the Republicans are in control so they can make the corrections starting now. Also much of the problem is that we have more government than we can afford and lack of personal responsibility (past liberal influence). If those who call themselves conservatives would return to basic conservative principles of less government and more personal responsibility, this would help to reverse the dangerous directions we are heading. And when we cut “programs” people need to remember how to pull themselves up by the ‘boot straps’ and stop relying on the government (our tax monies) to solve all their problems. Third, let your elected representatives in Washington know when you disapprove of how things are being handled and that you want to encourage them to return to conservative principles. One way to do this is that when you receive requests for contributions from these politicians or organizations return them only after you check their voting record (and like it) with a note requesting they stick to conservative principles. Tell them to do things like delete most if not all 6,300 earmarks from the transportation bill. Ask them to have the courage that Congressman Lynn Westmoreland and only 10 other Congressmen out of 433 had when they voted NAY on a $51 billion expenditure for victims of Hurricane Katrina because there was no accountability; don’t fall for the liberal mantra that their votes were a denial of benefits to the poor. All these 11 said was – we know money is needed but let’s account for how it is spent. Fourth, President Bush has the power to impound - which means he can hold funds that have passed in bills such as the energy bill. Much better known is the President’s veto authority. However, in five years he has yet to use it. Encourage him to impound and veto. The largest savings, without draconian effects, would come from convincing our elected officials to stop the implementation of the Medicare prescription drug bill. Surely for much less than $720 billion we can provide a plan for those who truly need it. Fifth, whenever and however deliver the message. In addition to direct correspondence, letters to the editor, taking advantage of call in shows and spreading the word to friends, help to build the momentum needed to start to steer the ship of America in a different direction. Now I admit the above is a complex and lengthy list of needed corrective actions and hard to deliver the message to an audience that will be defensive because they’ve been part of the problem. Finally there are things we can each do without trying to influence someone else to do something. Volunteering - help people in your community that need assistance to help them stop depending on “the government” (our taxes). Buying products made in the USA to help correct the trade deficit. And being more energy efficient will improve our balance of payments. I haven’t even touched on the need of controlling illegal immigration which is costing billions, and reducing waste, fraud and spending on other ‘nice to have’ programs which could save billions. A couple of years ago Senator Zell Miller said that there was $23 billion unaccounted for in the 2003 budget. It’s too bad for most of us that Congress isn’t governed by a balanced budget requirement as the Constitution of Georgia requires. At other times in our illustrious past when we were faced with serious problems we made sacrifices. I am committed to serving the people in Catoosa and Whitfield counties by the five principles for legislation I campaigned on (1) Will it decrease the size of State Government? (2) Will it decrease the tax burden on the people? (3) Will it give the citizens more personal freedom? (4) Will it give the citizens more personal responsibility? (5) Will it encourage and empower the family? What you do, if anything, is obviously your choice. To do nothing may negatively affect you and for almost certain your children’s future will be seriously compromised. Is that the legacy you want to leave? Are we heading towards bankruptcy? I believe serious changes are needed in the next decade. I believe we all need to be informed about how our elected officials are representing us. I am getting an inside view that I want to share with everyone. Representative Ron Forster is serving his third two year term in the Georgia House of Representatives. He Chairs the Interstate Cooperation committee and also serves on the Public Utilities & Telecommunication, Appropriations and Insurance committees. In 2004 the American Legislative Exchange Council named him legislator of the year. His email address is ron.forster@house.ga.gov and he has a website at www.gasrd3.org. #### For More Information Contact:
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