News Journal: The ‘no government’ crowd in Congress is leading us to ruin

The “canary in the coal mine” analogy is useful when you are trying to explain the ramifications of the current gridlock in Congress.
You may know that in the early days of coal mining there were no ventilation systems. Methane and carbon monoxide gas often built up to lethal levels without the miners realizing it. So they began taking caged canaries with them when they went to work. The birds were particularly sensitive to the gases. When they stopped singing or keeled over, the miners ran for the exits.
The metaphorical canaries in a number of areas of government responsibility are now very ill. They are being suffocated by the lack of funding for essential services. The big difference is that we don’t have any exits we can run to.
You may not notice what is happening in huge departments like defense, where there seems to be plenty of money to buy snazzy new planes but not enough to always ensure a reliable supply of gas to fuel them. But we are all aware that the unfixed pothole that just blew out a tire is a canary in the coal mine in terms of what is happening to our infrastructure.
Let’s look at that pothole more closely. Most of the revenue that supports the Highway Trust Fund comes from a tax on gas. The last increase in that tax happened in 1993, and there is no political stomach in either party to suggest finally raising it again. So the Trust Fund was allowed to nearly disappear until Congress found a way to fund it for a few more months, thus providing money it could send to the states to avoid imminent delays in already planned construction projects. The funding mechanism used, and endorsed by both parties, is called “pension smoothing.”
How does that work? Let me quote David John, of the very conservative Heritage Foundation, who accurately explained:
“One reason that the provision was added to the Senate transportation bill is that the reduced pension contributions, which are tax deductible, would increase corporate profits so much that it would increase federal corporate tax collections by about $7 billion. That money would help offset the cost of the bill, but such a significant reduction in pension contributions should send a strong warning. If contributions to defined-benefit pension plans fall that much while pension benefit promises continue to be stable or to grow, someone else may end up paying the difference. And that someone else is almost certain to be the taxpayers.”
Short version: Sleight of hand for a short-term fix. Congress pretended it found money, but we’ll end up paying for it eventually.
That’s the way our government seems to be working these days. No one denies that the Trust Fund would be far more cost-efficient if it were funded for years in the future and could make long-term plans. But we aren’t making long-term plans anymore, because they require real revenue. If you just stick a finger in the dike, it may hold back the inevitable until after the next election.
Where are other canaries suffocating? How about the IRS? Cutbacks in funding there have led to a drastically reduced number of tax audits, not to mention interminable telephone waiting times for anyone patient enough to call for help. Fewer audits mean reduced tax revenue. Penny wise, pound foolish.
When I read about the Centers for Disease Control’s administrative problems, I remember how its budget was slashed. Of course, if a major epidemic breaks out, the same legislators who did the slashing will quickly hold committee hearings to fix blame somewhere else. Isn’t that exactly what has been happening in the endless hearings about the tragic deaths in Benghazi? The people leading them all voted to cut $300 million from funds proposed by the president to pay for embassy security around the world.
We have to face reality. There are a significant number of people in Congress today who believe not in less government but in virtually no government at all. They have set in motion a cycle that goes like this: First, defund government agencies. Second, use their resulting poor performance as proof that government doesn’t work.
Sooner or later, I think the American people will catch on. I just hope they do before the potholes become preludes to collapsing bridges, and all the canaries in all the necessary agencies are dead.
Read all of former U.S. Sen. Ted Kaufman’s columns at tedkaufman.com.

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