Faithful Democrats
For every dollar we spend, we take moral imperatives into account. To do so, we must force the tough pragmatic answers by asking, “is this a wise use of our tax dollars?” while requiring ourselves to pursue compassion by asking “is this meant to help others or am I using this only to help myself and those like me?” as we call for framing the budget in a moral context.
The global economy is sinking, sinking, sinking. And as we witness the suffering of our local communities – and see how the homeless and poorest among us are particularly impacted – we also must reflect on how our global community is also suffering. Republicans are attempting to turn the domestic stimulus package into a political issue, and voices from both parties are calling for us to "Buy America." Both approaches are wrong. We have to remember that we are all in this together: as Democrats and Republicans here in the United States, and as participants in a global economy, while the economic tides ebb and our global economy sinks.
Last week, Eric Sapp pointedly reminded us that "Republicans only became fiscal conservatives when they lost the ability to spend taxpayer dollars." It’s reminiscent of what he wrote in September during the first bailout package: "Despite budget surpluses and debt reduction during the Clinton administration, Presidents Regan, Bush I, and Bush II have increased the U.S. debt by more than 900% during their tenures in office. The U.S. debt will increase more under George W. Bush than all other presidents combined." We all need to remember that this storm has been brewing for quite some time under the Republicans’ watch, particularly when we hear people like Mark Sanford and Haley Barbour declare that they will reject bailout funds “out of principle,” while their states’ outdated infrastructure will crumble further, their failing schools will continue to go unfunded, and more of their children will be unable to receive the medical care they deserve.
The Republican Party has attempted to turn the domestic stimulus package into a political issue simply because it came from a Democratic Presidency and was supported by a Democratic Congress. GOP talking heads are flooding the airwaves talking about the irresponsibility of enacting this "spending bill." Just note their turn of the phrase away from "stimulus package" and how "wasteful spending" makes for such a better soundbite than "wasteful stimulus.”
In lieu of seeking compromise to garner the best solutions for the American people during these troubled times, the Republicans are more intent on fixing their ailing party by resuming the "as long as the Democrats fail, we win" philosophy. The Democratic stance must forgo exclusionary tendencies and embrace a “when we work together, we all win” approach. We must seek higher common ground. And in committing ourselves to transcend partisan games, we must engage in truly sensible policymaking that considers budgets in moral terms.
The progressive faith community often refers to "budgets as moral documents" that are indicative of our nation’s values and priorities. But during this hour of great need and soul-searching, we must go further to also reconsider traditional budgeting in terms of smarter investment and better stewardship in order to have a more holistic view of our budgetary impacts.
This means that for every dollar we spend, we take moral imperatives into account. To do so, we must force the tough pragmatic answers by asking, “is this a wise use of our tax dollars?” while requiring ourselves to pursue compassion by asking “is this meant to help others or am I using this only to help myself and those like me?” as we call for framing the budget in a moral context.
First, in terms of investment, we have an unprecedented opportunity with the domestic stimulus package to invest tax dollars in those things here at home that matter the most for wide-reaching economic development. Compared to the TARP legislation, so much of which we have seen wasted, we can create opportunity from crisis by investing in those projects that empower productivity. We should focus on those areas that are going to have the greatest multiplier effects and catalyze our economy the most (such as infrastructure, education, research/healthcare, technology, and the smart jobs that come with and from all of those). That is how we ground our budgetary decisionmaking in moral terms: by asking whether the investments we are making are economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable and determining “is this a wise use of our tax dollars?”
Second, in terms of stewardship, we should use these tough times to reconnect with what is truly important by asking “is this meant to help others or am I using this only to help myself and those like me?” And while we most often act out of compassion in order to help the needy near to us, I would like to draw particular attention to the fact that we are also called to act as stewards of God’s blessings by thinking beyond our national borders.
While the gaudy wealth stockpiled in Sheldon Anderson’s investment portfolio is declining at a rate of $1.5 million an hour – more than the average American worker will make in a lifetime – we must are also reminded that the combined wealth of the 225 richest people on the planet is equal to the annual income of the poorest 47 percent of the entire world’s population. We must be prayerful for American families during these dark days, while also being mindful that 80% of humanity was making less than ten dollars a day long before this economic crisis hit.
We can use this economic crisis as an opportunity to refashion a world that treats its population more humanely – where all have the fundamentals we take for granted like food, clothes, safe water, and warm shelter – so that our children will live in a world where all people around the world are more secure and better able to provide for their families. Increasing trade barriers, decreasing foreign aid, and becoming more protectionist sends the worst possible message to the world. And, even worse, it is foolish economic and foreign policy.
One of the most potent lessons from this crisis is that just as the global economy is interlinked, we are all connected. We have been living beyond our means and engaging in faulty lending practices; and now when we see that money evaporating, we may feel the tendency to turn inwards, stop trusting the global marketplace, and fail to invest our resources where they are best used. "Buy America" is a patriotic-sounding slogan, and politicians may win points by bemoaning how we spend too much on foreign aid – even though USAID is funded by less than one half of 1 percent of the U.S. federal budget – but both stances are inward-looking and fail to grasp the true consequences of America’s role of sharing in the global economy. We must not give in to the same selfishness that ushered in this era of excess that is hurting all of us so dearly now.
If this economic crisis has taught us one thing, it should be that what happens around the world is more indelible to our prosperity than we have ever taken the time to realize. If we help the world’s poor to live safer, more productive lives through a tandem approach of trade, aid, and investment, then we will marginalize extremism – and we will be doing the right thing that will not only improve the global economy and restore trust in America’s leadership, but it will also enhance our standing as better stewards of the great wealth with which we have been blessed.
We cannot reverse globalization and we cannot afford isolationism. Rather, we can be sensible and invest our talents to capitalize on the opportunities globalization presents, which also enables us to build alliances with other nations through trade, aid, and investment. In so doing, while other nations might make pennies on the dollar off of us because they can make steel cheaper, we can turn that dollar into five or ten dollars by creating new wealth through entrepreneurialism, innovation, and doing all those things that we have always done best.
As we seek a broader understanding of the impacts of how we spend our money, we will find that instead of the traditional view of budgeting as nothing more than a disbursement of dollars, seeing budgets as smarter investment and better stewardship will lead to a more productive and more inclusive society. We have been at crossroads like these before, and that is how we have responded.
In addressing Congress and submitting his budget, President Obama reminded us that this approach to investment and stewardship has worked in the past:
History reminds us that, at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas.
In the midst of civil war, we laid railroad tracks from one coast to another that spurred commerce and industry. From the turmoil of the Industrial Revolution came a system of public high schools that prepared our citizens for a new age. In the wake of war and depression, the G.I. Bill sent a generation to college and created the largest middle-class in history. And a twilight struggle for freedom led to a nation of highways, an American on the moon, and an explosion of technology that still shapes our world.
In each case, government didn’t supplant private enterprise; it catalyzed private enterprise. It created the conditions for thousands of entrepreneurs and new businesses to adapt and to thrive. We are a nation that has seen promise amid peril and claimed opportunity from ordeal. Now we must be that nation again.
Indeed we must, and we should start by applying higher standards to how we approach our budget questions as moral ones. And then, once we decide how to take action, we should resist all temptation to remain inwards-looking, instead seizing the opportunities before us to be wiser, less insular, and more engaged in our global economy. After being disciplined as smarter investors and better stewards of the resources with which we have been entrusted, only then will we truly rise to the challenges of this sinking economy.
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