Warning shots 01/20/2010
 
The status quo is in trouble in America today. On Tuesday the 19th, just yesterday, voters in Massachusetts elected a Republican to fill the senate seat formerly occupied by Edward Kennedy, the "Liberal Lion", and you already know the rest of the story. Today there are recriminations flying with Democratic operatives blaming each other for the party's poor showing, rather than looking at the real cause: the pushing of pet programs that are ill-considered, costly and against the wishes of the American People. 
There is a lesson to be learned if Missouri's Democrats are paying attention; it could happen here. The current representative (Russ Carnahan) for the 3rd Congressional district is little more than a puppet on a string for the national party bosses. He seems to be afraid to engage his own constituents. And he's not much of a speaker. I drove down to Festus last year to hear him give his State of the District address and all he had to say for himself was that he had helped pass the Lily Ledbetter act (a fair pay law that affects very few workers) and had been allowed to cosponsor a bill.
Mr. Carnahan's real accomplishment, the No Banker Left Behind Act (officially known as TARP) he did not mention. But it was his defense of funding for the bad boy bankers that got a lot of voters attention. Mr Carnahan's parroting of the assertion that they were "too big to fail" seemed to most of us like a slap in the face. It was as if he were saying, "You're too little to concern us."
I expected this kind of behavior from George Bush's people, but when a fellow democrat spits on me, I think it's time for a new representative.

In my work with the down and out (every winter I staff a homeless shelter one night a week) I see some of the many people in our area that are in need of the basics of life - food, clothing and shelter. A stumbling block for many of them, when they are finally able to stabilize themselves and find work and housing, is past utility bills. It is very easy for them, when the weather gets cold, to wind up with electric and gas bills they cannot pay. The Cap and Trade energy bill that the Mr. Carnahan helped pass in the House (it seems to be currently stalled in the Senate), will cause these bills to soar, increasing hardship not only to the poor, but to the middle class as well (the middle class will pay a disproportionate part because our price includes what the poor aren't able to pay). And we haven't even gotten to the health care mess. All of this insensitivity on the part of the Democratic incumbent plays right into the hands of the Republican challenger (who is hardly a friend of the poor and working class). If the Democrats of the 3rd district don't choose a new candidate in the August primary, the people of the 3rd district will.
August 3, 2010 - go to the poll and vote in a real representative of the people - Edward Crim 
 
 
I've never entered a marathon. And, I don't plan on ever doing so. It's not because I couldn't start as well as anyone else, it's because I wouldn't be able to keep going for very long, much less finish. Some of you know that last year I set out on a 365 day photo project - documenting St. Louis' unique Forest Park (aptly described by Post-Dispatch columnist David Nicklaus as "our town square") every single day of 2009 (you can see it here). It wasn't an easy task; there were many tense "what do I do now" moments, when inspiration seemed in short supply and the job especially daunting. But I did it (with some help from my children when I got a 6-day out-of-town job). I finished the job I set out to do partly because I chose a job that, while demanding, and for me, unprecedented, was within my reach.

Sustainable is one of the buzzwords of our age. We talk of sustainable agriculture (hey, farmer, farmer, put away that DDT, now...), we use the word in regard to development, growth rate, living, the economy, etc. Even the folks at Walmart have something to say about it, though I wouldn't have otherwise put them in the same sentence. Sustainability is everywhere talked about, but no one seems less clear on the concept than the Congress of the United States. When I was in high school, I wrote a essay advocating procrastination, which ended by stating that my life philosophy was "Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off until next week" (I'm afraid I didn't take things as seriously then as I should have). This silly slogan of my youth, however, seems to sum up the approach our national leaders have to paying for things.

While it is true that debt has been a part of the Federal Government since the American Revolution (wars have always been expensive), entitlement spending has not. The collision between mandated spending (Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid) and available resources is closer than most people think (Social Security insolvency is currently projected to be a mere 5 years away). The Government Accountability Office's publication "A Citizen's Guide to the 2008 Financial Report of the U.S. Government" states that we are on "an unsustainable fiscal path".

"With respect to entitlement spending," the report goes on, "the nation must change course before the deficit and debt reach unprecedented heights. The Government must act to bring social insurance expenses and resources in balance."

Considering the current efforts in Congress to expand Medicaid and institute an overhaul of our health care "system", a balance seems not very likely. If Congress does pass any sort of healthcare legislation without providing a new and adequate revenue stream, it will simply be fuel for the fire.

Throughout the history of our nation, we have borrowed to expand infrastructure. This kind of borrowing increases national productivity and commerce, raising tax revenues. On a personal level it's like borrowing to improve your house or expand your business. It's a capital expense. What we are doing now is borrowing to fund increased social services (and an unnecessary foreign war and subsidies for the wealthy). This is like buying groceries on credit. It is not something we can do for long.

So, what happens next? There are a number of possibilities: 
 - bankruptcy, with an ensuing collapse of social services and possibility much more
 - reduction in services (with backlash from the voters, riots and social unrest)
 - increase in taxes (with backlash from the voters, riots and unrest)
 - Congress takes the wrong action and makes things worse
 - all of the above in some combination (we become like France)

We can't afford to do nothing. The right time to take action in preparing for the future is always now, and now is never a moment too soon. There is a lot that needs to be fixed, and not much time to fix it.

Get involved with my run for the Democratic nomination in Missouri's 3rd congressional district. 
My telephone number is 314-504-6692.