Burn the Village

We must burn the village to save it.

That was the American strategy for victory in Vietnam and a good description of the Republican economic strategy for America and Ohio which many Democrats, including our impotent president, are caving in to.

The $38 billion in federal cuts proposed by Republicans and agreed to last Friday by President Obama, aka The Great Capitulator, will severely punish Americans for a deficit and national debt they are not responsible for. The proposal, expected to be approved this week by Congress, is economic and environmental assault. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/us/politics/12congress.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha24

Among the cuts are $1.6 billion to the Environmental Protection Agency, which will make it even more of a lapdog to industry than the watchdog it is supposed to be. The budget cuts $47 million for climate change reduction and $10 million for food safety and inspection.

It eliminates $1 billion in proposed spending for high speed rail which would have increased jobs and decreased pollution and plays into the hands of Republican governors like Ohio's Gov. John Kasich who have rejected federal high speed rail money. Their hollow argument that their states couldn't afford to pay their share of the projects further addicts Americans to oil as gas prices inch toward $4 per gallon.

The shameful budget cuts clean energy programs and Pell Grants for summer school students. It even cuts $4 billion for compensation to crime victims.

Ohio's budget is just as bad. "The jobless budget," is how Democratic State Rep. Dennis Murray of Sandusky described it in a Monday night budget presentation.

The biennial budget will force county and local government leaders to take the blame for raising local taxes to compensate for cuts. Erie County, the county I live just outside of in Sandusky County, will see a 21 percent cut in state funding in 2012 ($400,000) and a 36 percent cut in 2013 ($510,498), according to Murray.

The budget paves the way for oil drilling in state parks and privatization of the Ohio Turnpike. It privatizes five state prisons with the $200 million in one-time revenue, in no way compensating for the private prisons never having to pay local or property taxes. Hospital funding will be cut by $597 million while nursing home funding will be cut by $472 million.

Meanwhile, in true reverse Robin Hood fashion, there are $800 million in tax cuts with 40 percent going to the wealthiest 5 percent of Ohioans, Murray said. And over $7 billion in tax breaks for businesses. http://www.policymattersohio.org/pdf/TaxExpendituresReportESum2011.pdf

"These budget cuts are about people," Murray told the audience of about 50 people at the Erie County Office Building. "Living in a civilized society has a cost and it (the budget) worsens it."

Sadly, the cuts are just the beginning as the assault on America escalates to economic and environmental rape. About two-thirds of the $4 trillion in cuts proposed in Republican Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin's "Path to Prosperity" budget plan  over the next 10 years would impact disadvantated and poor Americans including $2.9 trillion in Medicare cuts. http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3451

And putting a lie to talk by Democrats and Republicans of shared sacrifice, the Ryan plan cuts about $2.9 trillion over 10 years for corporations and the superrich. http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/displayatab.cfm?Docid=2969&DocTypeID=5

Don't count on Obama to fight hard against the Republicans. Obama is the kind of guy who would expect you to be grateful for him getting you a tent after the Republicans threw you out of your house. Rather than debate whether cutting spending after the worst recession since the Great Depression is a good idea, Obama has allowed Republicans to frame the debate over how much to cut.

In a budget speech Wednesday, Obama is expected to champion the recommendations of the chairmen of his Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform  nicknamed the Catfood Commission because that's what the elderly will have to eat with the cuts in Medicare and Social Security the commission recommends.

Two-thirds of the plan by Democrat Erskine Bowles and former Republican Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, the committe co-chairs, recommends cutting costs rather than raising revenue. It reduces the tax rate while raising the retirement age and includes spending freezes that will handcuff government's ability to provide essential services. http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3325

Someone asked Murray what could be done to fight the cuts. He suggested letter writing to politicians and local newspapers which is a good idea, but just a first step.

Talk to everyone you interact with each day about why the cuts are bad and how it will affect them. The clerk at the convenience store or supermarket. The mechanic who changes the oil in your car. Your co-workers, friends and neighbors.

Keep it simple. Compare deficit spending to taking out car or college loans or second mortgages. Compare cutting spending in this morbid economy to conserving water when you're house is burning down.

Groups of us will also have to confront our politicians at events. Not in a nasty way like the Tea Party, but in a contstructive, forceful way. Non-violent resistance or sitdown strikes are also an option.

Agitate, educate and organize. But first get mad. Outrage breeds resistance.