Cheap Patriotism Won’t Suffice In This Crucial Test
The Heritage Foundation’s Patrick Fegan makes a compelling point in saying Americans need a president who will call the nation to a greater definition of “community.” More than promoting any particular policy, the chief executive elected in 1996 must promote a strong sense of unity among America’s many parts, he says.
The idea deserves note.
Neighborhoods, families, schools and churches are among the institutions that unite people and their communities. Similarly, the ideals of liberty, freedom, justice and equality create a degree of national community.
Yet the notion of “shared sacrifice” ought to re-emerge in our political vocabulary, too. The concept exemplifies the authentic patriotism that Americans will need to meet a compelling foe: deficit spending.
The late theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer argued forcefully against “cheap grace,” the idea that forgiveness could be received without some subsequent change of heart.
Today, Americans are being wooed by the sirens of “cheap patriotism.” Great courage isn’t necessarily needed to sign onto “contracts” that champion tax cuts, school prayer and more guns. By contrast, deficit reduction requires sacrifice from each of us.
Ever since the early 1980s, when America bought the notion that it could cut taxes, hike defense spending and balance the budget, it has had to live with a threatening deficit. Now, the day of reckoning is here.
When Congress returns after its Fourth of July recess, legislators will start working on a plan to balance the budget, finally. Thanks to House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio, and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., the far-reaching package would balance the budget in seven years.
That aim is good for two reasons. First, America’s next few generations wouldn’t have to inherit a reign of deficit spending, which will strangle their economic future.
And economists claim that, without a deficit to finance, interest rates would drop (perhaps significantly). Less capital also would be tied up in debt financing. Money could flow more freely and cheaply to productive ventures like new businesses.
But as every Capitol Hill sort knows, the impending budget debate demands sacrifice. Most of all, reduced growth rates for Medicare will require change. Although budgeters haven’t presented specific cuts, $270 billion in Medicare reductions are part of the package before Congress.
According to preliminary suggestions, the reforms likely will include requiring wealthier recipients to pay more for Medicare benefits. And recipients probably will be encouraged to join health maintenance organizations.
Such health organizations indeed offer cheaper care, which could yield budget savings. But patients also lose a little freedom with corporate medicine. Medical tests, for example, may not be automatic.
Yet by changing their medical habits, elderly Americans could lead the way toward restoring “shared sacrifice,” just as they did during World War II and the Great Depression.
Of course, if elderly Americans start enrolling in health maintenance organizations as a way to control the nation’s budget, such organizations also must act in a compassionate, fair way.
For example, four of the seven largest private health maintenance organizations reportedly have administrative costs over 20 percent. That means one of every five patient dollars funds bureaucratic work. Why spend all that money on bureaucracy?
Similarly, cash and stock benefits for the chief executives of the nation’s seven largest private health maintenance organizations averaged $7 million last year. Companies certainly have the right to craft their financial packages. But must medical executives profit so handsomely from a health care system that asks others to rearrange their lives?
The patriot game gets difficult. Sacrifice may be needed from everyone to reduce the deficit, not just from retirees. Communities, for example, may lose government workers. Yet shared sacrifice also could lead us to a profound celebration, which would arise after a vanquished deficit.
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = William McKenzie Dallas Morning News