Now that the Bush administration has come clean on the costs of rebuilding a shattered Iraq, it’s time to reconcile the federal budget with the new reality.
The country was presented with an $87 billion bill Sunday night that will pay for the troops and humanitarian efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan next year. Still woefully short on details about how the money will be spent, the president made his case for Congress’ financial support. But his address was as much about politics as policy. President Bush needs to rally the support of the nation for duties that will last longer and cost much more than we were told before.
It now falls to our elected representatives in Washington to acknowledge the dangerous potential of lingering deficits. The budget deficit next year alone is likely to top $500 billion. The country is literally funding our domestic and foreign commitments with borrowed money. Short-term deficits during times of recession or war are not unusual. But current policy etches deficit spending onto the balance sheet for a decade to come.
Politicians pay lip service to addressing the national borrowing, but actions are the true test. What has been done to staunch the flow of red ink?
Instead, our political leaders have delivered trillion-dollar tax cuts, a long-term commitment to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan, and the promises of expensive additions to entitlement programs, such as the proposed $400 billion prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients. How can we have it all, while losing millions of jobs and struggling through a jobless economic recovery?
Absent from the president’s speech was an explanation of what happened to the weapons of mass destruction or conciliatory language toward our United Nations’ allies, even as we seek to share the weight of ongoing operations.
The president called upon Europe to accept its responsibility in helping to create a functioning, democratic Iraq but offered no incentive for joining the fight. If the United States wants help – and we surely should – than we must negotiate in good faith.
We cannot abandon Iraq, but the president shouldn’t expect a blank check from Congress or a free pass from the United Nations.
Stay on target
A meeting of six New England governors and eastern Canada premiers wraps up today in Mystic, Conn.
Topping the agenda has been the blackout that left 50 million people, from New York to Cleveland, without power. Trade, technology and border security have all been discussed. Climate change and pollution should not be forgotten.
A report released last week by the New England Climate Control Coalition says that New England has fallen short with its pollution reduction efforts. The governors and Canadian premiers made a commitment in 2001 to cut production of greenhouse gases in the region.
Maine has adopted reduction goals and established a stakeholder group to develop a plan for climate change law. But other states have lagged behind and projections show that without more attention, the goals established in 2001 will not be met.
The issue warrants attention. Gov. Baldacci should use the Mystic forum to keep pollution controls on the agenda in the Northeast.
dfarmer@sunjournal.com
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