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All I want for Christmas is good government

By Christopher Curran
Posted 12/22/15

As a kid growing up in suburban New Jersey, I wanted what most boys my age wanted in the 1960s. Beyond baseball mitts and Louisville Sluggers, I truly craved for a complete “Gemini …

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All I want for Christmas is good government

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As a kid growing up in suburban New Jersey, I wanted what most boys my age wanted in the 1960s. Beyond baseball mitts and Louisville Sluggers, I truly craved for a complete “Gemini Rocket.”

Being obsessed with the space program as my friends and I fashioned makeshift spacesuits out of old coats and aluminum foil and salad bowl helmets, a genuine Gemini Rocket would have been the envy of the block. Alas, it was not to be. That erstwhile Christmas long ago, as I opened packages of slacks, new school uniforms, a slinky (a spring that for some reason was mistaken for a toy), pajamas, and a hula-hoop (the shape of the package gave that one away), I could not find the gift that I yearned for – my rocket!

Fifty years later, I assume I may not receive what I wish for this year – good government. Whether one is a Republican, Democrat, or independent, one thing we all can agree on is that the government on municipal, state, and federal levels is not working well. Next year, as we search for political messiahs who will lead us to an efficient ideal of what government is supposed to be, we will inevitably have to choose from the lesser of evils rather than the best of betters.

Sadly, the current presidential primary season is more akin to popular reality shows like “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” for the Democrat side or “Survivor” for the Republican side. Trying to garner real stances on pertinent issues is often lost in the flurry of adolescent accusations and reckless “tom-foolery.” In a nation with an astronomically escalating debt, a dangerous, inconsistent, weak, and capitulating foreign policy, and a Congress chock full of intractable fractiousness, we truly need a statesman who can bargain with the legislative branch of government and one who has a boatload of administrative experience instead of quipping performers at a political circus.

Unfortunately, the current and immediately previous occupiers of the White House have demonstrated little administrative prowess or fiscal discipline. And most of these hopeful aspirants of the Oval Office have not projected any convincing sense of professional organizational acuity or budgetary or foreign policy competence.

Similarly, in regard to our eternally bloated state government, Gov. Gina Raimondo is seemingly attempting to climb the mountain of metamorphic embedded bureaucracy. Whether she can chip away as she climbs the side of that rock is an unresolved question in our famously constitutionally imbalanced state.

Additionally, on a municipal level, the decades-long indulgence of unions has come to roost, where already grossly high property taxes are producing insufficient tax income to pay under-funded pension schemes.

Given the state of affairs on all levels of government, is it even a remote possibility Santa Claus will grant me my good government Christmas wish? Or just like my absent Gemini Rocket, will I lament for years to come, never receiving my dream present?

To quote the philosophical musical group The Rolling Stones, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” but often you get what you need. Certainly, my hard-working mother and father met that standard, while government has not come close for a long time.

We have been stymied as a country by the last 14 years of sub-par presidents and non-courageous Congresses who have increased the national debt from $5.2 trillion to $19 trillion. This legacy of indebtedness will burden several generations and impede our country’s ability to dream. Reaching for the stars like we did in our pursuit of the moon in the Sixties is not possible when you do not have the money to adequately care for veterans or fix roads and bridges. The interest on the debt will rise as the Federal Reserve incrementally raises interest rates. The recent .25 percent raise is the first in attempt to emerge from the artificial economy we are currently living under. The stark reality of the mishandling of the executive branch will start to have gravely felt effects.

George W. Bush prosecuted two wars while simultaneously lowering upper-class income taxes. Without alternative funding instruments like the war bonds of World War II, or the tax adjustments and revenue enhancements of the Vietnam era, we were bound to endure outrageous increases in our country’s credit card balance.

Similarly, Barack Obama’s $783 billion stimulus package did not stimulate much of anything, with only $40 billion of the allotment used for any infrastructure repairs. The rest was essentially squandered in shoring up bloated federal, state, and municipal governments.

Under Obama’s watch, public assistance programs have ballooned and America’s military has been diminished. Thus, his tenure in office has rendered the nation weaker defensively and financially.

Those vying for his chair are not exactly inspiring confidence. The “Survivor” reality show known as the Republican primary has the improbable Donald Trump leading the polls. Trump speaks in emotionally evoking vague eruptions that provoke a flurry of supporters wherever he goes. Amazingly, almost all of his assertions are constitutionally untenable, yet his popularity continues to grow.

His closest competitor, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz – who is the darling of the far right “Tea Party” anti-government wing of the Republican Party – has been referred to by Arizona Sen. John McCain and others as a “wacko bird.” Reason being, Cruz has used parliamentary tricks to impede votes and due process in the Senate just to make his political points.

The next closest competitor, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, may be the nearest chance we have at competent stewardship of the executive branch. Just in his 40s, Rubio has already been speaker of the Florida House of Representatives and a U.S. senator. He has presented some clear policy statements, and when challenged by his fellow Cuban-heritage colleague Cruz has handled the juvenile attacks with dignity and purpose. If Rubio were the nominee with perhaps a vice-presidential partner with great gravitas such as Ohio Gov. John Kasich, I might possibly receive my Christmas gift.

The remaining candidates – humorous South Carolina Sen. Lindsey “Shecky” Graham, isolationist eye doctor Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, evangelical one-trick pony and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, New Jersey governor and state “bouncer” Chris Christie, and the always angry, failed executive Carly Fiorina – have made the many debates more entertainment show than deliberative forum.

On the other side of the political road, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” star Hillary Rodham Clinton, the princess of prevarication, has ridden a series of so-called Saturday night debates that have been more of a precursor to a coronation than a valuable examination of the issues. “Get off my lawn” candidate Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has stayed true to his four decades of far-left liberalism. Despite his political ideology, one has to admire his consistent honesty and unwillingness to adapt his beliefs to corral more votes from the Democrat moderates. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is too inconsequential to examine. None of these three people can possibly fulfill my Christmas wish.

In the Ocean State, it is too soon to see if Gina Raimondo can grant my wish. After her first year, one can see a thumbnail of an effort of reform, but little action. Certainly, she has exhibited missteps regarding the infrastructure repair plans, but overall we will need at least another year to see if my wish can be realized.

In regard to our municipal governments, as long as mayors and town managers are looking down the barrel of union guns, there is little that can be done to rectify these generational public sector income, pension, and benefit-related problems. Perhaps reasonable negotiations are possible. However, I am doubtful my holiday wish will be fulfilled here, and sadly we will continue to pay the highest taxes in the nation and realize the continued mediocre quality of goods and services.

All I want for Christmas is good government. I envision a government that is efficient, fair, streamlined, and responsive. I aspire to have a government that does not cater to the connected but rather serves the needs of all taxpayers equivalently. I dream of a federal government that secures the safety of the nation and seeks to reduce the legacy of debt hoisted upon our grandchildren.

Alas, like my never realized Gemini Rocket, I fear I shall never see my Christmas wish of good government, and yet the greatest aspect of the holiday season is that hope springs eternal! Maybe Santa will come through this time.

Merry Christmas to all my readers, and may God bless you all! 

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  • Justanidiot

    Better you look for three wise men on Smith hill.

    But you would only find some myrrh, a little frankincense, and a pile of gold in the basement. (the third floor can't bear the weight)

    Wednesday, December 23, 2015 Report this