The Government We Deserve

Republicans typically emphasize lower taxes, while casting Democrats as eager to further burden hard-working families. But Republicans delude themselves when they think that Democrats can't play the tax-cutting game as well.

A new year offers new hope, so let’s pause to ask who and what makes this world a better place.

The debate over the relationship between government and the rich has been part of every presidential contest for more than a century. But myths and misunderstandings pervade attempts to compare 2012 and 1910 with policy prescriptions in mind. Chief among the myths propagated by both political parties is that, for better or worse, larger and more engaged government has come about through taxing the rich.

The big question is whether markets and the public will allow our elected officials to flounder around until 2013. Even if politicians can't agree on adequate benefit cuts and tax increases, their bigger mistake would be to avoid putting in place a process to make budgeting far more rational than it has been.

Most Americans sense the contradictions in Democrats and Republicans—or at least understand that no coherent approach to principles, policy goals, or even processes for compromise guide today's political parties. Pollsters tell our elected officials what sound bites trigger our emotions, and that passes for policy.

The political debates have quickly centered over whether Obama is heading toward ever-more cumbersome government regulation and price-setting and whether Ryan is opening up unregulated markets that would deprive many of needed health care.

What does matter is that Social Security expenses are expected to rise by about 50 percent—from about 4.3 to 6.3 percentage points of GDP—from 2008 to 2030, and taxes aren't. As the baby boomers retire, higher expenses and less tax revenue mean that the national deficit will rise year after year.

What allows us to live and thrive in a good society? To grow and progress so much that we consider it a failure to have a few years of negative or low growth? To live in peace, at least within our borders? To enjoy almost endless possibility?

What do you pay in Medicare taxes? And what Medicare benefits can you expect? It's no secret that early generations of Social Security beneficiaries got benefits worth more than the taxes they had paid, although the most recent waves of retirees getting Social Security can make a stronger case that they have paid for their benefits. But let's leave Social Security aside for the moment to consider an even bigger problem of the same stripe. Past and current retirees, and most working-age adults, will never pay for all their Medicare benefits.

Footballer Michael Vick, baseballer Alex Rodriguez, and golfer Tiger Woods have been highlighted in broadcasts lately, having come back to their games after losing "hero" status by harming their families, friends, teams, fans, and sports. Perhaps the greatest cost of their prior actions was movingly stated by Frank Deford, when he asked if young fans today had anyone to look up to.