Democratic Party Ninth District
Bill Osher

Democrats, we are told, are the "tax and spend" party. They want to take your hard-earned money so that you can't spend it the way you want. Like anybody else, I can't say that I enjoy paying taxes. But neither do I enjoy paying for a new car. Nor is it pleasant to write checks for college tuition. Or put money into savings instead of taking a cruise. But we need transportation; we want our children to get a college education; it's financially wise to save first before splurging on luxuries.

We are still the wealthiest nation on earth in terms of our GNP, but our abhorrence of taxes has prevented us from investing in America's future. Although we live in an era in which knowledge will determine the economic winners, we are no longer first in the number of young adults with college degrees. This generation of young Americans will be less well educated than the previous one. Pell grants have not kept up with the rising costs of college. Similarly, Americans rank poorly in measures of health compared with other developed countries. We have higher rates of infant mortality and lower expected longevity. We no longer lead the world in high speed internet access. If Americans are sick, ignorant, and lack the technical means to communicate with the rest of the world, then we won't continue to be the strongest nation.

We failed to invest in the levees that protected New Orleans, and thereby allowed Katrina to devastate a major American city. We failed to maintain the safety of a crucial bridge in Minneapolis, and some of our fellow Americans lost their lives. Civil engineers tell us there are many such bridges, dams, and roads that put us at risk. On a more mundane level, the journalist, Davis Sirota, reports spending hours at the DMV simply to get a driver's license. Of course, it takes hours: the office is underfunded and understaffed. The citizenry didn't invest in a basic public service that we all depend on, and we all suffer for it.

The government services our taxes pay for can't solve all our problems, but when bright, ambitious young adults can't afford to go to college, they're not the only ones who suffer. We all pay the price through lower national productivity and higher rates of crime. It's in the interest of all of us to insure the health and education of any of us. As Justice Holmes famously said, taxes are the price we pay for civilization. Would you really rather have less civilization? Of course, we should be vigilant about starting unnecessary programs, and we should demand that government be run efficiently and get results. By all means, eliminate waste, and phase out programs that don't work. Make congressional earmarks more transparent. But the Republican mantra that tax cuts are the answer to all our problems puts our national infrastructure at risk. True, it's your hard-earned money, but it's also your country. You'd be short-sighted not to invest in it.

Bill Osher has a BA in philosophy, a BD in theology, and a PhD in psychology. He has worked as a university psychologist and administrator. He has published books on college success and career planning. Retired, he lives with his wife, the novelist, Diane Thomas, in the Jasper area. He is chairman of North Georgia Progressives.