Sarah Palin is Focused on Her Future, Not the Country’s

Make no mistake. The vote on raising the debt ceiling was all about politics and had nothing to do with solving the debt crisis. After all the votes were counted the politicians agreed that we could not afford to default on our obligations, but virtually no progress was made in addressing the national debt.  Politicians were not willing to make the hard decisions that would move us toward solving the ever-expanding unsustainable debt. Republicans were committed to not increasing taxes. They recognized that higher taxes would increase revenue and help reduce the deficit, but their financial supporters would be the ones affected, and thus would likely not support their re-election. Democrats were committed to ensuring that no cuts were made to Social Security and Medicaid. While they recognized that these types of cuts would decrease spending and help reduce the deficit, supporters of Democratic candidates would be directly affected, and thus would likely not turn out to vote in the next election. President Obama was focused on the potential devastating effect of a default so he was in favor of the proposal that had the fewest conditions and would simply allow the government to meet it’s existing obligations.

This “deal” only results in cuts to the budget of $21 Billion which is less than 1% of the $3.7 trillion federal budget. Most of the cuts don’t start to apply until after the next election, more than one year from now.

The bulk of the projected $2.1 trillion or more of cuts does not start kicking in until after the next election when a future Congress and president could choose to rewrite the plan.

Thus the politicians have protected themselves once again from the potential wrath of voters, unhappy about having to pay more in tax, and those who would be affected by cuts to their social security and Medicaid. It appears that graduate students who rely on student loans are the only ones truly affected, and the cuts to their aid will not go to reduce the deficit, but instead the money generated by cuts to their support will cover a $17 Billion increase in student loan programs for undergraduates.

At a time when unemployment is soaring, we are devoting more resources to educating more students in psychology, philosophy, sociology, and political science, at the undergraduate level instead of allowing graduate students to finish their degrees which might allow them to become job creators, or world class scientists.  How can the United States regain its position as a leader in the world if we are no longer educating graduate students in areas of science and technology?  Does anyone think that the leaders of the future will have bachelors degrees in political science?   At a time when unemployment is at a record high, for us to cut any funding for student loans, graduate or undergraduate, seems likely to be the one area that should not be touched. However graduate students are a relatively small part of the population as compared to those who would pay higher taxes or be affected by cuts to social security or Medicaid. Thus politicians have compromised. Neither Republicans or Democrats have done the necessary to plan for future solutions, but instead are focused on what they perceive to be in their best interest through the next election cycle.

Sarah Palin did yet another interview with Greta Van Sustern on Fox News last night. Sarah Palin is the celebrity who was NOT in favor of raising the debt ceiling. However when the vote was taken and Congress approved an increase to the debt ceiling, Palin declared this a “victory”.

It was like declaring yourself “undefeated” when you were defeated. It was like saying you were “vindicated” when an ethics committee found you to have acted unethically.

In the relatively short interview Sarah Palin and Greta Van Sustern used the name “Tea Pary” or “Tea Party Patriots” at least 10 times. It seems obvious that Palin is focused on her campaign as a Tea Party candidate and little else. She failed to present any ideas about solving the debt crisis, but instead focused on the Tea Party. She failed to mention any politician who had worked to solve this potential threat through negotiation and compromise. While the nation is consumed with concern for our economic future viability, Sarah Palin is consumed with concern for her future political viability.