Election year stories for 2006

I hate election years. I do not dislike an election year because, inevitably, a slew of politicians are elected or re-elected for no reason better than their opponent either had too little money to campaign or was the worse choice. No the battle of lesser evils is not the big thing that rots in my gut, though it is high on my list. It’s the misinformation and re-telling of facts that gets me. Both the Republicans and Democrats do this. It is so commonplace that often everyone fails to notice it.

One case in point is a recent article on Veteran health benefits. For me this is no small issue. The Government under several administrations has failed its wounded heros on several occasions. Notably is the Agent Orange issue. I am old enough to have had a father who volunteered to serve this nation during Viet Nam, some of my readers may not. The Viet Nam war had a great cost on America, not monetarily but in the lives ended and affected by it. My father was one of those affected on several levels. For over a decade the U.S. Government denied that there was any effect from the use of Agent Orange. Then in 1984 veterans were paid $180 million in compensation. I don’t think that number was near enough. Of course in the time prior to that, since there was no official effect, millions suffered without any help, including my father. As I said this is a subject that I find VERY important.

Recent wars, like all wars, have produced wounded veteran that deserve if not demand the care of the government. As a nation it is a small thing to care for those that have risked life and limb in defense of the freedoms most take for granted in my opinion. Thus you may understand my concern in seeing that the above mentioned article suggested that there could be health care cuts that would place “tens-of-thousands” of veterans without help. Of course this is an election year, and the top Democrat on the panel for the VA’s budget, Rep. Chet Edwards, was the one making this claim. In fact, as the article goes on to state that, “the cuts are outlined in a 673-page computer printout that has not been officially released by the White House budget office.” Interesting how, suddenly, a report that is unofficial and not ready for submission has been leaked in an election year. Also interesting that in reading the full article it becomes clear that not only are these cuts something that could not happen before 2008, but that the administration denies the viability of this report. They state that routinely cuts have been proposed and NOT ENACTED. It seems the budget planners for the nation sketch out their bills just like I do, except they use a computer print-out and have it leaked before they figure out what they want to do.

I hate how politicians get the public riled up on a serious issue even though it doesn’t exist, just to gain votes. Another example would be the budget surplus. Many should remember that during the President Clinton’s administration, when we were in the internet market bubble, the Government was able to balance the budget and then had a surplus. “Irrational Exuberance” indeed. The fact was that the Clinton Administration calculated the growth of wealth in the nation, based on paper gains in the stock market, and figuring the increase in federal taxes projected in the future (roughly as I recall 2010) came up with a total figure. They then back-tracked the numbers to show a surplus that would exist if the temporary unrealized paper gains from the stock market were realized. The resulting graph became this chart.
I wish I could do that with my checkbook, or that of my businesses. Obviously the gains didn’t get realized as expected, and the deficit continued on the progression that it was previously tracking. Funny how the government lost 8 years of growth in 2½ years, and how that exactly matches the crash of the stock market. Even those unfamiliar with charts can see the stunning oddity of the chart, as its trend only changed course during the stock market bubble.

Like I said, the spin that politicians do to important facts are horrendous especially in election years. Think its bad now, wait til 2008 - especially if a certain lady with a familiar presidential last name continues to, as I feel, beguile the general populace and runs.

This is what I think, what do you think.