As our nation celebrates the inauguration of President Barack Obama in Washington, cities and towns across America are facing major deficits and revenue shortfalls. On the federal, state and local levels, elected officials are having to come to terms with years of out-of-control spending.
Yet, the more that private citizens, corporations, foundations and trusts do within their communities, the less cause there will be for government to become involved in policies for social engineering and taxpayer-financed investments that rarely bring the promised return.
Last month, the National Governors Association requested a $136 billion bailout from Congress. For most Americans, when you've got too many bills and not enough in the bank, the natural -- and only -- solution is to cut your cost of living.
In Congress, though, on both sides of the political aisle, the mentality seems to be, "Why tax only the living when you can tax the unborn, too?" After all, the "bailout" funds being handed out to corporations on a weekly basis represent a sort of backward "borrowing from the future" mentality on Capitol Hill.
It's our children and grandchildren who will be saddled with the debt we're piling on to our federal deficit, which now sits at more than $1 trillion -- a startling increase from the $50 or so billion it rested at only a few months ago.
As our elected officials and community activists work to stem the current economic turmoil, we would all do well to remember an age-old axiom: we cannot spend our way to prosperity.
Incurring debt from "stimulus" packages and bailout programs may sometimes be necessary, but long-term economic health -- and the freedom and mobility that such wealth brings to individual Americans -- can only come through a comprehensive reform of the tax code.
At American Solutions, the Platform of the American People has underscored the reality that most Americans desire real change in terms of how they're asked to pay for government spending.
Nearly 70 percent of those surveyed agreed that "the federal income tax system is unfair." Almost as many (65 percent) believe the death tax should be abolished. The majority of Americans -- 61 percent -- believe that "taxpayers should be given the option of a single income tax rate of 17 percent."
These numbers represent a solid tri-partisan majority of Democrats, Republicans and Independents -- all of whom believe it's time for real change. It's our duty to ensure that President Obama and our elected officials on state and local levels understand that this is what we mean when we said we hoped for change.
Without real change, economic liberty will be imperiled and the idea of the pursuit of happiness could mean far less for our children that it did for us. Let's not turn back the clock.
Tom Shakely is a student at the Pennsylvania State University and Web Editor for The Philadelphia Bulletin. Find more at his website or e-mail him.
