Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote]This doesn't fit anyone's current political narrative, so there's nothing to hear about it, but in fact rather than consume resources with expensive, daily commutes, Americans are much more likely to just move to wherever their job requires them to work, rather than commute. [/quote]While the average American may change its place of living more frequently than the average European, I'm sure that most Americans would think twice (or more) before deciding (or not deciding) to move thousands of miles away for just a few extra thousand per year.  [quote]We SHOULD be able to pay for things like National Parks and Interstate Highways and Air travel and Trains, but, I'm not hopeful that we will.  All things other than three big budget eaters I listed have been wallowing in neglect for decades.[/quote] Do you think European countries can afford more than we do?  Their social services are superior to ours, and this does not prevent them from having a decent passenger rail system.  Are they wealthier than us?  Maybe at this time they are somewhat in advantage due the rise of Euro and the fall of USD, but I don't think we are so broke that can't afford what they can.  So, social security and medicare is not a concern at all - Europe spends much more on this type of things.  Iraq war is more of a concern, since it does undermine overall financial well-being of the U.S.  But, still, federal spendings are controlled by Congress.  And Congress is really unlikely to sacrifice every social service that we have for presidential ambitions about Iraq.  And Amtrak (especially long-distance trains) can also be considered a social service in a sense.  Whatever way we slice it, this miniature chunk of funds (even if it grows from $1.3 billion to $2 billion) does not make much of a difference to federal budget.  [quote]Anybody talking about raising taxes to pay it?  No.[/quote]Really?  I'm sure this option is not the last resort.  In fact, raising the taxes may be an easier thing for the government to do than cutting the programs that have been defining the image of America for long time. As for me, I don't mind paying more taxes, as long as it's necessary to preserve America as a livable country.  I'm sure many people agree with that.  Of course, there are some who don't care about the beauty and livability of their country, state, city, as long as their own bank account is filled.  But it's government's responsibility to have common sense prevail.  The threshold has probably not been reached yet.  In other words, so far we haven't found ourselves in a dilemma between raising taxes and cutting valuable federal programs.  With right people in power, this can hopefully be avoided.  But if not, then common sense must prevail.  And, I believe, raising taxes is more of a common sense than cutting the programs.  And, the last but not the least, cutting the military presense in Iraq can make a lot of difference.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag