What priorities are being set for our nation? Are they the same priorities you would choose?
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STOP Framing "us"
Joseph Lambert
05/17/2012
The GOP constantly cries over the debt limit and evokes the “spending
problem” in Washington “frame” every time our Democratic
representatives seek to place a priority on human needs. Paying for
human needs with the common wealth we all contribute to helps sustain an
America that works together. Unfortunately, some of us are unable to
contribute to the common wealth due to disease or an unfortunate
disability, as well as those who have retired after working their entire
lives, who become eligible to receive the earned benefits they
contributed to during their most productive years.
We show empathy and care for these individuals by coming together as
one nation to provide the essential services necessary to support their
needs. Without the common wealth these people would not be protected,
much like the millions of Americans currently living in poverty and the
many Americans who die each year as a result of not being able to afford
health coverage for their families. Paying for human needs is
essential for our nation to continue to be strong, along with
investments in education, science and technology, and caring for our
veteran population that bravely serve our country. These priorities are
reflected in the budget and tax policies our elected representatives
advocate for and pass.
What are our national priorities?
Take a look at this chart from the National Priorities Project and consider what priorities you think we should adopt for our nation, and compare that to what our nations priorities actually are at this moment.
When our elected representatives decide to place a priority on
spending the common wealth as can be seen in the chart above, we are
sending the message to our friends, family members, and neighbors alike
that we don’t care about the suffering of others. We don’t care about
education for our children. We don’t care about investing in science
and technology. We don’t care about providing for those who are unable
to provide for themselves. We don’t care about our wounded soldiers who
return from war. When we enact immoral budget and tax policies that
exclude the needs of the people, and ignore making crucial investments
in our future, we not only increase the burden being placed on our
families and communities, but we also send the message to other nations
that we don’t care about each other. It appears the one thing we do
care about is increased military spending. As indicated in this chart, we are spending the lion’s share of our tax dollars on military spending, at the expense of other social programs that provide for the needs of our citizens.
Even if we were to accept the frame put out there by pollsters
working for the GOP regarding our “spending problem” in Washington, then
we should at least be curious as to how that money is being spent. If
it is acceptable to spend nearly 60% of our discretionary spending on
the military, then why not shift our priorities, and start focusing on
the needs of our citizens, instead of using our tax dollars (ie, the
common wealth) to build an empire around the globe, bomb and destroy
communities abroad, and create more enemies in the process. We didn’t
always spend this much on our military. Even at the height of World War
II, we spent a fraction of the cost we are spending today. The increase
in military spending has more than doubled
under former President George W. Bush’s watch to the point that we are
now spending more money on our military than the rest of the world
combined!
For the most part, the increased spending on the military was used to
enrich shareholders of Haliburton and it’s subsidiaries (Dick Cheney’s
former company) who received no bid contracts courtesy of Dick Cheney
and former President Bush’s effective use of our Government to suppress
competition. Rather than being used to keep us safe and protect us,
which is the language the GOP repeatedly runs with when discussing
increased military spending, Bush and Co. effectively used the power of
the federal government to suppress competition and enrich fellow members
of the privileged sector. This by the way is a textbook example of what
the GOP’s frame of “picking winners and losers” is all about. Just
like the “spending problem” in Washington frame, also referred to as the
fictitious “tax and spend” Liberal, the “picking winners and losers”
frame was purposely crafted to be repeated endlessly when facing any
opposition to the GOP’s efforts to place a priority on corporate greed
over human needs.
The National priorities project
is an excellent resource for showing us what we could experience in
this country if we simply shift our priorities. For example, instead of
spending $22,000 per second to create enemies abroad, we could hire
thousands of teachers, firefighters, and police officers, not to mention
jump-start this economy by getting ahead of our national competitors in
the development of clean, safe, fuels of the future like wind and solar
power that will never run out, as opposed to focusing on dirty, unsafe
fuels of the past that are polluting our planet and lungs, not to
mention the devastating effects it will have on our economy when they do
run out. This will finally eliminate (not just reduce) our dependence
on foreign oil, increase our national security, and provide the
desperately needed economic stimulus to get us back on track and working
together as one nation.
Ultimately, the spending issue frame boils down to placing a priority
on protecting and enriching the privileged in this country, (GOP led
priorities) or protecting human needs and providing an equal opportunity
for every citizen to pursue life, liberty and happiness by coming
together in support of human needs over corporate greed (Democratic
priorities).
