Pre-Boomer Musings

Are you shocked and dismayed by the way politicians in Washington have demonstrated a lack of common sense?  Do you believe your representatives have a total disregard for fiscal responsibility?  Who is looking out for the well-being of their constituents rather than following the will of a political party or following their own individual ambitions?  Did you ever think this would happen in America?

A recent survey reports the favorability of Congress is at 18% — the lowest since such polls have been conducted.  Another study showed 66% of Americans would rather throw out their representative (it doesn’t matter which party) than send them back to the nation’s capital for another term.  Many people believe that picking someone out of the phone book would produce better results than the politicians who are there now.  State and municipal governments probably don’t score much higher. 

Is there any government program or reform bill that does result in some sort of tax increase?  Health care, energy, education, infrastructure, subsidies, welfare, immigration?  The list goes on and on.  Needs like defense, homeland security and disaster response are not even part of this discussion, although they could be.  And every form of government from local to national seems to find ways to spend more money than they take in.  But with the tough financial times we’ve fallen into, the dollars aren’t there.

The average citizen has cut back on spending and is afraid for the future.  By the same token, the national government continues to spend because they can tax us or simply print more currency.  So we have fewer dollars to spend or our money is worth less due to inflation, this affects the savings for pre-boomers and others on fixed incomes.  Local and state governments can’t print money, so they either raise taxes, cut services or both.

With the way Washington handled the health care situation (it can’t be called a discussion, since it was a one-sided affair), it’s hard to believe anyone is listening to the voters.  This same problem exists for issues that are closer to home, such as water and power, schools, sales taxes and a whole host of other state and local services.  However, the strength of the government unions keeps or severely delays the layoff of unessential, under-performing or costly workers, so necessary spending cuts can’t be made in a timely manner.  We’re all concerned, but can anything be done about this distressing situation?

Unless we show our dissatisfaction with what’s being done (or not being done), matters will get worse.  This election year is critical at all levels of government.  Therefore, it is the responsibility of each voter to study the record of incumbents and the resumes of the challengers.  The same thing goes for propositions or measures on any ballots that are going to cost taxpayers either through loans (bonds) or taxes.

Pre-boomers have more time available than the most working families, so this group of New Seniors needs to be doing more than the average voter.  It’s time to be a local leader in the effort to get American on the path we know is right.  

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