We Ain't Yemen. Not Yet.

I was interested in a news item in the Washington Post this morning. It was about the youth in Yemen. It was titled "In Yemen's political crises, children pay highest price". With all the problems in the world and here at home, I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to Yemen. Have you? Well maybe we should. The article goes on to point out how the children in this torn country are suffering and will do so for many years to come. That's true of most countries that have experienced war or what amounts to war. What caught my attention is that, although we aren't experiencing war here in America, we are experiencing what in many ways mimics war. Because of the severe recession in this country, but even more, because of the political war that's continuing, I worry about our youth. Look, in order to get our financial houses under control, our national government, our states and even our local towns and school systems are cutting spending. All the while they do it, they tell us that this is needed to provide for and protect our children's futures. That's hogwash. If it were true, then they wouldn't be attacking the education our children will need  in order to function in their futures. They wouldn't be defunding the programs to feed them, see to their health, heat their homes and a slew of other programs aimed at improving children's lives. But that's what is happening to the exclusion of nearly all other sources of savings or, more importantly, other sources of income. Now I agree, nobody likes taxes and, certainly, nobody wants to pay more taxes. But here's the thing.There's only two ways to balance the ledger. You cut costs or raise revenue. And of course, kids can't vote, so guess who pays the price? It may be clever politics to take from children and claim you're helping them, but it's anything but good fiscal policy. Why? Because when you get old and unable to work, guess who's gonna have to support you and the country?