In for the Penny, In for the $14.3 Trillion

Today in Washington, there is great debate about the growing debt, the need for a release of the debt ceiling, and the consequences of not cutting down deficit spending.  As the White House pushes to increase the debt ceiling to solve economic shortages and prevent another economic slump, several Congress leaders are pushing back that it is first necessary to limit the amount of deficit spending the United States produces before a new limit is set.  It is of general consensus that it is necessary to raise the debt ceiling to continue to keep prices and social services at the standard they currently reside.  Without this raise in the national debt ceiling, interest rates would sky rocket, social service checks would halt, and troop salaries would be cut.  However, some fear that “as catastrophic as it would be to fail to raise our debt ceiling, it’s even more irresponsible to not take this opportunity to own up to our unsustainable spending path” as said by Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado.  With the United States racing towards its $14.3 trillion dollar debt cap by mid-May, Democrats are jumping on board with Republicans that something must be done to stop deficit spending.  A collection of 6 congressmen (known as the Gang of 6) is meant to release possible deficit reduction bills as early as next week.

It is crazy to me that in the course of just 5 months, the United States has already nearly met its nearly $15 trillion dollar debt cap.  While we have been through some tough times this year with corporate bailouts of the major car companies and some banks, natural disasters (including the recent tornado tragedies in the South that are not even on the books yet), and general economic slump, it is not acceptable that the government that is in charge of our safe keeping can hardly take care of itself.  As a college student, money worry is never far from mind as I consider the debt college will leave me in.  However, in my case, the money spend has such a positive return that there is a light in the end of the tunnel.  Debt will not always be a force factor in my life, at least not for college.  The American government on the other hand, is quickly digging themselves into a deeper and deeper grave, and eventually the walls are going to cave in.  At some point you have to step back and realize that you can’t continue at your current rate and start to fix before its too late. 

In thinking about what the government is spending this $14.3 trillion dollars, it’s not a wonder we are in debt.  Of that money, at least $50 billion is sanctioned off to oil companies and oil research.  In the current oil projections, we can only continue using oil for another 25-50 years before reserves will run out.  That means we have maybe 15-20 years to find a sustainable alternative before prices for oil will skyrocket so high that it won’t be affordable anymore.  And it isn’t just gas we have to worry about loosing; it’s plastics too, both of which make our lives possible.  Instead of sinking money into alternatives for these dwindling resources though, the government is giving tax breaks and incentives to the oil companies.  And when the going is getting tough, instead of relying on these companies we have sunk so much money into to help the government recover, if there is a shortage of money, it will again be taken up by the people in the form of interest rate increase, ceasing welfare and social security, and limiting the income of our troops.  It just seems so wrong.  The federal government needs to take a good hard look at how much they are spending, and an even harder look at what they are spending that money on.  It might not be such a pretty face looking back in the mirror.

Nature of State: Education Budgets

After reading a recent blog by my colleague Raymond W regarding education cuts, I began to give the matter great thought.  I found my colleague's introduction quite interesting.  He began by polling a group of middle schoolers about their opinion of school budget cuts.  Even at this young age, the children already had a distinct understanding of the importance of adequate budgets and the damage lack of funds can have on a school.  Too many children today feel the ravages of under budgeted schools as classes lack in technology and advanced teachers.

As a school student myself (in a more advanced stage of course), I too have a very strong opinion of the need for school funding.  At UT, many of the budget cuts have affected the ability to continue classes in the order that most benefit us.  It was always difficult to get into language courses, and now as those classes have diminished in numbers, it is almost impossible.  These effects are minimal compared to the effects I see in our public schools.  I am a mentor at several elementary schools in East Austin, working with different age groups.  We often go to play in the library that can hardly be called such or playgrounds with only swing sets.  Teachers restrict my 30 minutes with them because I take them away from the ever-present TAKS test and the holy grail it is.  It is a shame that schools exist in such dismal shape, but it makes me ever more sad to see the education system continually focused on a test that does little to teach our children what we truly need.

My colleague also touches on this.  He was disappointed that the government "stiffed us and hid behind an unnecessary war, for which there seemed to be no shortage of extra cash."  While I agree that the government did stiff us, I don't blame the war.  As mentioned in a previous post, the war following 9/11 was necessary at the time, but should not have been at the sake of our children either.  Raymond mentioned several areas that "fat" needs to be trimmed, and all of those are true especially his fact that education is already bare boned enough.  However, I don't believe the blame lies solely in the path of the war.  The battle of budget is not between two enemies but many contenders, and it is a matter of who can scream the loudest, and sadly, school children just can't pull that weight.

Islamophobia

As the war in the Middle East continues, the fear that started it all is hardly being laid to rest as we are living in a constant state of reminders. Reminders such as intensified airport security, terror alerts, and constant news sources from the troubled Middle East do little to lessen the negative feelings towards this area of the world.  Even if you can look past the fear of associated with the war, the economic burden this situation has caused the United States is enough to create ill feelings towards the Middle East and its inhabitants, let alone our government.  These feelings however are often not directed at the appropriate sources and the burden of our blame falls on innocent victims:  the Islamic community.

Since September 11, much doubt and suspicion from the American public has been leveled at not only the virtue of the Islamic faith, but at the people that practice it and their motivations.   Such stigmas and hype are often associated with times of fear.  In World War II, German citizens were shunned and Japanese citizens were sent to internment camps.  This was nearly 70 years ago.  But in today’s era of civilization, enlightenment, open-mindedness, it is startling to find we can so easily blame and condemn entire traditions of thought because of fear.  It was understandable though not justified when we were first attacked, but now, ten years later, it is past time to stop.  We live in country of freedom:  freedom of speech, thought, press, and RELIGION.  It is time that we begin acting like it.

Today, this message is slowly working to be heard.  Recently there have been symposiums on the University of Texas’s campus regarding this issue. In Washington DC, many lobbyists are working to get the hearings involving a witch-hunt for radical Muslims called to a halt.  These controversial congressional hearings only work to play up the fear that American Muslims are apt to become terrorists, and do little to foster a relationship that is already on a path of alienation.  We are a country of mixed backgrounds and varied beliefs.  That is the great beauty of our country.  It is time for the American public to have faith in the American public, because ultimately, Muslim Americans are Americans too, who fight for, defend, and love our country.