Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/93854
Sarasota News Leader OPINION November 16, 2012 enough gas in the tank to get you as far as Gainesville. Reform the tax code. When she became speaker of the House in 2009, Nancy Pelosi named reform of the patently unfair Alterna- tive Minimum Tax affecting millions of mid- dle-income taxpayers as one of her top prior- ities. Of course, it never happened. Slogans often substitute for policy. Both parties ur- gently need to address the tax issue with open minds, especially as we are set to tumble off the "Fiscal Cliff" on Jan. 1. Undertake entitlements reform. If we as a nation are to provide benefits to eligible citi- zens and non-citizens (such as Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, Obamacare, non-funded federal mandates that fall on state govern- ments, etc.), then adequate reserves to cover those costs must be funded and maintained. Further, these reserves cannot be treated as pools of available cash from which the gov- ernment can "borrow" at will. Remember candidate Al Gore's promise made during the 2000 presidential campaign to create a Social Security "lockbox"? Nothing happened there either during subsequent administrations. If the government promises to deliver a ben- efit, it is reasonable to expect that the gov- ernment will have the money on hand to pay it. Otherwise, the recipient of the promised benefit gets nothing if the money designated to pay that benefit is spent elsewhere or the cash simply runs out. It is like buying on the installment plan without hope of ever recover- ing your "investment" if things go "wrong." In 2013, out the $3.73 trillion to be spent by the federal government, 62 percent will be spent on entitlements. Page 60 Reduce federal debt. Related to budget, tax and entitlements reforms, it should be noted that in September, the federal debt reached $16 trillion (about 70 percent of gross domes- tic product, or GDP), an increase of $6 trillion since the end of 2008. The Congressional Bud- get Office projects that if "taxation and spend- ing policies that the nation has become accus- tomed to" continue, the federal debt will jump to 90 percent of GDP by 2022. If so, much of these added costs will be driven by increased demand by aging Baby Boomers for more and better subsidized health care. In human terms, and according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the true median American family in 2011 earned $50,054. With a com- parable debt obligation of 70 percent (taxes, mortgage or rent, car payments, credit card payments, health costs, etc.) the family would have just $15,016.20 a year to spend on grocer- ies, utilities, gasoline, clothing, etc. Unlike the federal government, the family cannot legally print cash to make up the shortfall. Prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Should Iran develop the capability to produce nuclear weapons, a capability it is actively pursuing, Iran will use those weapons to "wipe Israel off the map." In addition to the above five, the president and Congress have other important issues to resolve in short order. It is hoped that Vicki's appeal will bring them and the public together to break the gridlock, set aside the acrimony and get on with the very serious business of ensuring good national governance.%