Facing Up's BlogWatch is your one-stop guide to the blogosphere's most impactful news related to the federal budget. This is why we've partnered with VoteGopher, where our BlogWatch content will be republished on a regular basis. See the write up VoteGopher put together about Facing Up to the Nation's Finances and our regularly-updated BlogWatch [1]!
Today's BlogWatch begins with a piece entitled, "An Inconvenient Debt." [2] Written by Colin Lovett, the entry's lead is quite intriguing:
"There are no chase scenes. There is no romance. And the hero is balding. With glasses. But a new movie opening this month may be the scariest of the summer. And it’s all about the national debt."
This must-see summer blockbuster is entited I.O.U.S.A. Falling directly in line with our work here at Facing Up, the film captures the gravity of America's federal debt and inspires viewers to get educated on the consequences of renegade spending. While I am not going to scare you with figures (aside from the current $9.5 trillion dollar debt our government has accumulated), I will provide Lovett's simple explanation of how our government has meandered its way into fiscal oblivion:
"The federal debt is pretty simple to understand but can be very difficult to solve in practice. We as a country take on debt when Congress and the President spend more than they take in in taxes."
See? It's as simple as that. Be sure to check out the I.O.U.S.A. film as well as Lovett's article in which Facing Up is coincidently mentioned as a valuable, non-partisan resource [3]. Over at EconomistMom, Diane Lim Rogers penned an interesting piece about McCain and Obama [4] and their discussion with Rick Warren -- the famed pastor at Saddleback Church (the event aired on CNN and FOX News on Saturday, August 16th, and has been highly publicized since). Rogers digs through transcripts from the live, televised event to pinpoint the stark contrast between the candidates' thoughts and reflections on fiscal responsibility [5].
And over at the Economist's View blog, all eyes are also fixated on the candidates' economic policies. EV republished a piece written for The New York Times by Paul Krugman. According to Krugman, McCain's economic policies are questionable. With this said, Krugman also sees Obama's campaign flopping miserably on fiscal issues. According to Krugman,
"…If Mr. Obama can’t find the passion on economic matters that has been lacking in his campaign so far, he may yet lose this election." [6]
In other news, The Hill's Congress Blog is buzzing with news and perspective about Social Security reform. On August 14th, marking the 73 anniversary of FDR's signing of the Social Security Act into law, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney penned an intriguing piece [7]. Aside from praising Social Security as an ideal-type of legislation, Sweeney drove home its importance [8]:
"Before Social Security, the poorest people in the country were the elderly. Social Security turned the United States into a society where getting old meant that, after a life of work, a person could retire with security. The current statistics reaffirm just how important Social Security is for our retirees. Twenty percent live solely off of the program’s benefits, and 65 percent depend on it for more than half of their income."
While Sweeney's piece starts with praise for a legislation that is desperately in need of saving, he has harsh words for anyone hoping to privatize. Voicing his frustration with McCain's plans for Social Security, Sweeney wrote, "As with so many of his other policies, McCain is following Bush’s lead, and ignoring the needs of working people."
And on the other side of the aisle, there are charges that Obama is too vague about what he plans to do to rectify Social Security [9]. According to Charles Babington, Obama proposed placing a new Social Security tax on "very high incomes." But, Babington notes that "…[Obama] is providing few details on basic questions such as what the tax rate might be, what types of income would be taxed and how the taxpayers' benefits would be affected. [10]"
With issues like Social Security and Medicare looming, both candidates need to be prepared to confront fiscal responsibility head-on. The next four to eight years are going to be extremely important in terms of making viable changes to taxation, spending and other budgetary potentialities. Both McCain and Obama need to step up to the plate and be prepared to offer whole-hearted solutions to America's financial debacle.