Congress Buries the American Dream

In a Union Leader guest editorial on Friday, Rep. Hodes dramatically finished his missile of mis-information with the words: “Perhaps just as important is the down payment on the American dream.”

This Congress is burying the American Dream and Mr. Hodes is holding the shovel.

First, it is clear that Mr. Hodes does not understand what the American Dream is really all about. We citizens of the greatest nation on earth dream not of government dependence, but of independence. We dream of being able to take the product of our own hard work and use it as we see fit to care for our families, save for their education and one day perhaps even retire in basic comfort.

We dream not of government guidance and instruction, but of the freedom to follow our own path, create our own success and exceed the wildest expectations of any previous or future analyst of our democratic potential.

Mr. Hodes appears to be blinded by his premature declaration of seeking higher office. His editorial is heavy with campaign talking points but light on solutions to the problems his constituents are confronting on a daily basis. 

He offers the suggestion of new jobs without sharing how these jobs will develop. He criticizes the way Wall Street does business without acknowledging the role he played as a member of the Financial Services Committee who accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from that industry and ignored for two years their misbehavior. He speaks of tax breaks for Americans but does not identify them as tax credits for those who do not pay taxes.

The history of our modern economy shows one time tested path to long-term economic stability and that is through real, broad based tax cuts that benefit everyone across the economic spectrum. This means tax cuts that benefit small business where 70 percent of our state’s jobs are created, cuts for families who are working hard, meeting their bills and barely getting by, reducing the corporate tax rate to a level that allows American companies to be competitive on the global market and actually grow new jobs at home rather than shipping them overseas.

This only works however, when the tax cuts are accompanied by dramatic cuts in government spending. What Mr. Hodes either does not understand or simply refuses to acknowledge is that the level of spending in this bill alone has the potential to cripple our economy for generations to come.

Mr. Hodes has endorsed a plan that will leave a devastating legacy of debt for our great-grand-children and beyond.  No matter how he spins it, the so-called stimulus package has very little stimulus and an enormous amount of pork. His campaign promise to protect the tax-payers has been abandoned – Mr. Hodes has voted for every single dollar of spending requested by the Speaker of the House and by the President since November 5^th.

What is even worse is that Mr. Hodes has blatantly announced that this is just the beginning. Since the stimulus package was passed the administration has asked for in excess of two trillion dollars in additional spending – and the only revenue source for government spending continues to be the workers of our nation.

This is not a down payment on the American Dream, but it is possible to make that dream accessible to all Americans. To do so, however, our representatives have got to come to the understanding that government is not the solution, it is the problem.

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