Saturday night at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., Glenn Beck declared that "it is still morning in America, it just happens to be kind of a head−pounding, vomit−for−four−hours morning in America." Beck echoed that same note throughout his speech and concluded his keynote CPAC remarks by reaffirming that "we know tomorrow it will again be morning in America."
With what little respect I had for Glenn Beck, lost during that speech at CPAC, I'd like to respectfully disagree and suggest something earth−shattering in American political discourse: the obvious.
We're in trouble. Big trouble.
It doesn't matter what time of day it is in America — it could be noon on Thursday for all anyone cares. The U.S. government ran a $1.8 trillion deficit last year, and President Barack Obama plans to stem the growing national debt, but how? By spending $10 billion to fight childhood obesity, by investing an additional $1 billion annually to provide prisoners with cleaner prison facilities and by frittering $8.5 billion away to reduce infant mortality in third−world countries. Don't forget that tax cut, either.
The United States is in very real jeopardy of losing its coveted AAA sovereign credit rating, of becoming insolvent and losing the ability to finance its own debt — evidenced by China's recent reduction in U.S. debt holdings — and all we can think to do is spend billions of dollars to get little Johnny to stop eating doughnuts? Or to make sure murderers have more cheerful tiles in their cells?
Or to perseverate over health care? President Obama will unveil his new health care plan tomorrow at a bipartisan summit. At a time when U.S. unemployment is at 10 percent and the national economy is flagging, Obama feels the need to go on television and push for a trillion−dollar health care bill, even when, according to a survey conducted by The Washington Times, 89 percent of Americans are satisfied with their current medical coverage, and the government can't even afford that.
Then there's foreign policy. We've tied ourselves to President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, though his jurisdiction ends at the Kabul city line. But luckily, as we push into the heart of a Taliban stronghold in Marjah and onwards toward Kandahar, we've already told our enemies we'll be out of their way by late next year. Iran's mass resistance to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's bogus re−election was crushed thanks, in large part, to the United States standing idly by, cheering democracy on without acting. Then, amid the economic chaos at home, Obama thought it most expedient to meet with the Dalai Lama after selling Taiwan $6 billion worth of arms. Is it really such a wonder then that the Chinese have yet to accurately valuate and de−peg the yuan from the dollar, and allow the U.S. trade deficit to subsequently shrink?
All this being said, an American apocalypse is not imminent; to suggest anything else would be foolish. Rather, it is important to recognize the not−so−obvious obvious reality in current American politics: the President is not getting the job done. Instead of facilitating a select number of well−reasoned initiatives that would concretely address some issues, Obama has addressed every imaginable issue — but all in a highly superficial, un−robust manner.
If Obama is truly intent on creating jobs, then he will cast aside health care and bear down on Congressional leadership to pass a number of jobs bills. If Obama is truly concerned about government spending, then he will cut all nonessential spending outside of defense. And if Obama is truly concerned about China, he'll find a more subtle way of plying Taiwan with weapons from here on out.
In short, while America will not immediately collapse from the aforementioned inefficiencies, such practices indicate a blatant lack of a hierarchy of needs in Washington. In the long term, however, the current frivolity of U.S. politics will lead to grave consequences down the line.
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Teddy Minch is a senior majoring in political science. He hosts "The Rundown," a talk show from 3 to 5 p.m. every Friday on WMFO. He can be reached at Theodore.Minch@tufts.edu.
