Back to the drawing board

By Mark West

A couple of years ago my in-laws set out to build their dream home. Cashing in on years of hard work and sacrifice, they embarked on the project of a lifetime. A task of this dimension would require an immense amount of thoughtful preparation. One of the first steps in the process was to put their vision on paper. They began with a blueprint. My father-in-law eventually developed that blueprint into a cardboard model that illustrated what we could expect the home to look like upon completion.

All good projects begin with accurate and realistic blueprints. Unfortunately, I don't believe that Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy's Democratic Blueprint for America's Future is either of the two. I do credit him with some good points, yet I understand that even a whole glass of "good" water with merely a drop of cyanide mixed in is still a lethal cocktail.

Several times Senator Kennedy struggled with Pot-Calling-The-Kettle-Black Syndrome when he castigated President George W. Bush and the Republican majority for the reactionary politics of division that both parties are expert at employing. Nothing irks me more than to hear one party accuse the other of things that both parties have always done. I wish I could have added the "get real" to these disparaging comments.

Boiled down, Senator Kennedy's blueprint is to spend more money on education, do nothing about Social Security, and to have government controlled health care. Since the Senator begins with education, so will I.

Senator Kennedy wants to fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act, pay for college for everyone who wants to go, raise standards, and encourage graduate studies in math and science. Oops, Senator Kennedy doesn't want to pay for this, he wants ALL Americans to pay for this. Funny, WE don't get a choice in what colleges people will attend, what the standards will be raised to, and what subjects should be focused on. Senator Kennedy has taken the liberty of deciding for us because obviously we aren't intelligent enough to decide these things for ourselves.

Senator Kennedy's answer to the health care system is...Medicare for All. Kennedy's plan is a phasing in of all age groups beginning with the elderly and working down until all people are on Medicare. Besides, we all know the only real problem with the health care system is its rising prices...right?

Rather than seek a remedy for the rising prices of health care, Senator Kennedy would rather the full faith and credit of the American people pay for it for everybody. Here's how Senator Kennedy said it: "As we implement this reform, financing must be a shared responsibility. All will benefit, and all should contribute. Payroll taxes should be part of the financing, but so should general revenues, to make the financing as progressive as possible."

What is the greatest threat to Social Security? Senator Kennedy says that it is President Bush and the Republican Party! I would consider this more if it weren't for both the Congressional Budget Office and for the Social Security Administration contradicting his claim. According to these groups, another decade without change will see more being paid out in benefits than collected. Another five decades will see a totally depleted program leaving those in my age group out in the cold. I believe that Kennedy wants to raise taxes to support this program as well.

I want to discuss a bizarre statement made by Senator Kennedy. Senator Kennedy said, "We as Democrats may be in the minority in Congress, but we speak for the majority of Americans." This statement mystified me and still leaves me in perplexity. I'm not certain how this statement was meant. Did he mean that they speak up for a majority of Americans or that they share views with a majority of Americans? I'm not certain, but the statement was bizarre, I mean, if they share the views of a majority of Americans, why have they lost five out of the last six elections...including a four election losing streak?

I don't want it to seem as though Senator Kennedy and I don't agree in some areas, because we do, however I believe that some of these ideas need to be exposed for what they are...an attempt to control individuals lives though the tax system. Education is done best when local people, i.e. parents, make decisions about what their children need rather than a one-size-fits-all government program like the No Child Left Behind Act. Health care prices need a solution, not an end around. Social Security should be paid by people like Senator Kennedy, who aren't required to contribute to Social Security. Senator Kennedy calls for Americans in education and health care to make sacrifices rather than "line their pockets," so is it too much for Americans to ask the Senator to lead by example?

I guess it is back to the drawing board for a Democratic Party that seems to lack a realistic and accurate understanding of the times we True Americans are facing in this day in time.

© Mark West