Opinion Front: Beyond Austerity

Last week, President Obama proposed a new plan for job creation, consisting of payroll tax cuts, minor tax incentives to hire new workers and infrastructure spending. All is to be accounted for by the congressional debt commission.

Of course, that means the plan will be paid for with further austerity measures. Obama himself hinted Medicare and Medicaid are in need of “modest adjustments.”

Presumably, we’ll soon hear from Republicans that the plan is too radical and goes too far, while liberals will petulantly stamp their feet and say it doesn’t go far enough.

The truth of the matter is it isn’t a question of degree. Tax cuts and austerity programs are both part of the same global economic policy recently savaged in a report by the United Nations.

Western governments have repeatedly offered their working classes up as sacrifices on the altar of austerity, bleeding the poor dry to save the fortunes of the hyper-wealthy. It’s time that we begin considering real alternatives that would create jobs and redistribute wealth.

To begin, the health care industry should be entirely nationalized. Full access to health care should be guaranteed to every American. Doing so would both create jobs in health care and fulfill the right of every citizen to health. Further, it would destroy the blood-sucking leeches we call health insurance companies, who have turned health into a monetized privilege and profit from the misery of millions.

Second, massive investments need to be made in the educational system. We must build new schools, fully employ teachers and guarantee a real education for every child.

Finally, Obama’s proposed infrastructure spending should be extended. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that we need to spend nearly $2.2 trillion to fix the nation’s infrastructure. But we can’t realistically or ethically pay for investment with austerity measures.

Instead, we should heavily tax the wealthy and mega-corporations. The working class has bled enough. It’s time the wealthy paid the price for their robbery and decadence.

­— atcrane@indiana.edu