A friend sent a column to me today that said the following:
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits? Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The President does. You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does… One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country… When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist. If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red. If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it’s because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan… Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
It is of course correct that congress and the president vote on budgets and appropriations, and you and I don’t. You and I don’t write the federal budget, but we vote for the people that do. Every one of those 545 people are there because we put them there (except SCOTUS judges, who are presidential appointees). We get exactly the politicians (and resulting policies) that we, as a country, want (or think we want).
If both republicans and democrats are against deficits, then why do we have them? It’s because we the people are not willing to do what is necessary to not have them. It isn’t a mystery, it’s math. To eliminate the deficit, revenue must equal spending. Currently, spending exceeds revenue by 1.3 trillion dollars. So to eliminate the deficit we need to collect 1.3 trillion more dollars, or reduce federal spending by 1.3 trillion dollars, or do some combination of the two. But politicians that attempt to raise taxes or cut spending by a combined 1.3 trillion dollars are rewarded by not getting re-elected. We have deficits because we want to have them.
If everyone is against high taxes and inflation, why do we have them? Well, we really don’t. Federal revenues (as percent of GDP) are at their lowest point in 60 years, and inflation expectations are low and stable, and the federal reserve has (foolishly, in my opinion, but that’s a topic for a different post) indicated that they plan to do everything in their power to keep it that way.
The role of lobbyists should not be ignored, but it isn’t just money. Another, albeit more subtle way that lobbyists influence policy is through research. If I am trying to craft policy related to petroleum refining, I’m going to need data about that industry. It’s often the case that the most useful source of data about any given industry is collected by that industry’s trade association, so naturally I’ll call the Petroleum Refiner’s Association and ask them to brief me. And they will be happy to do so, because their presentation will be an opportunity to influence my policy-making. (This happens to be why I oppose the idea of reducing congress’ budget. Less money for independent analysis will result in a heavier reliance on trade group data)
I certainly agree that it takes a lot of gall to decry deficits while voting to increase them. And I certainly agree that the policies that exist are the ones that congress and the president want to exist. But they are the ones we want to exist as well. If they aren’t we point that out by failing to re-elect the responsible people, and instead elect people who promise to overturn the policy. If the tax code is unfair, it is because we reward politicians who cut taxes by greater amounts in the top brackets than in the bottom ones. If the budget is in the red, it is because we punish politicians who attempt to cut entitlement or military spending or raise taxes. If the military is in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is because we reward politicians who use nationalism and vague threats of mushroom clouds in Manhattan to whip us into a frenzy.
Are politicians responsible for public policy and its effects? Of course they are. But they aren’t alone. We bear responsibility as well, because we sent the message via our voting habits that we wanted the policies that we got.
520 Chestnut 
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