Public officials need support to do what's right

Viewpoints

August 16, 2010

Steve Boggs Weatherford Democrat The Weatherford Democrat Mon Aug 16, 2010, 08:30 AM CDT

WEATHERFORD —

State Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, addressed the Business Before Breakfast meeting of the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce Friday morning. Aside from touching on the familiar conservative talking points, King went out of his way to ask the public to stand behind their elected officials in the budget-cutting times to come.

For that, he deserves an attaboy.

There are budget-cutting times ahead, and everyone who holds public office right now is going to have to make some tough choices. Tax revenues are down, and this recession is showing no signs of letting up any time soon. Even the mighty Texas economy, the best in the U.S. by far, is expected to contract by $18 billion over the next two-year budget cycle.

It’s clear that there are but two choices: Raise taxes or cut spending. Texas doesn’t have the option of deficit spending because the state’s constitution doesn’t allow it. Unlike California, the state isn’t facing $40 billion in debt on top of a yearly budget deficit.

Still, there is work to be done. With revenues down and the federal government spending money like a drunken sailor, state lawmakers will roll up their sleeves and tackle an $18 billion budget shortfall come January. They should not take on debt, and there is no appetite for a tax increase at the state level, so that leaves but one option: spending cuts.

King’s message to Friday’s crowd was simple: Your elected officials need your support when they make these hard choices to come.

This is where it gets dicey. There is a movement taking hold in this country, embodied by the Tea Party, to rein in the size and scope of government and stop the runaway spending. The federal government’s debt is approaching $13 trillion, and President Obama is showing no signs of putting away the red-ink checkbook.

What the Tea Party people and other fiscal conservatives have in common is they want the government to stop spending money. What few have examined closely is how that will affect every vein of our very existence. If the federal gravy train ever ends, the repercussions will be massive and universal.

That’s why the comments made by Rep. King are significant. It’s the first time we’ve heard a public official say, in effect, that he needs our help to do what’s right in the months to come.

The money just isn’t there right now, so the budget has to be cut. We, the voters, have to know that going in. We can’t throw our public officials under the bus when they make the tough choices at the local and state levels.

— Steve Boggs

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Public officials need support to do what's right

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