Author: Harold Ford

The Founding Fathers entrusted Congress with the “power of the purse,” because the legislative body was viewed as the most accountable to the people. This responsibility demands honesty and candor about the nation’s finances.

Unfortunately, Congress last week passed a dishonest budget. At a time when the nation is challenged on more fronts than ever, the budget recommended by President Bush and approved by Congress fails to address many urgent priorities. It saddles future generations of Americans with mounting debt.

We can do better but only if we are candid about the fact that the policies we’ve been pursuing haven’t worked. The deficit is $521 billion this year — a record high. We’re borrowing more with little to show for it. More than 2 million jobs have been lost in the last three years, and only 21,000 were created last month. College tuition is up; gas prices are at an all-time high; and property, sales, and other local taxes are on the rise.

Hospitals are closing, 44 million people don’t have health insurance, and the Bush administration intentionally withheld the actual cost of the Medicare bill from Congress and the American people. Principals and teachers are working harder to achieve the goals of the No Child Left Behind act, but they don’t have the tools they need. Nearly half of the schools in Tennessee are falling short.

America needs a new set of priorities. The first priority is security. Money for our troops in Iraq was not included in this year’s budget even though many troops lack body armor and other essential equipment. Money for our troops should be provided up front in the budget. In addition, our military is overstretched like never before. To relieve the burden on our military and lessen our reliance on the National Guard and Reserves, we should expand the active-duty military by 40,000. And we should honor our nation’s veterans by giving them the benefits and health care they have earned through service.

At home, we should fully invest in homeland security. The tragic attacks in Spain have underscored the need for better rail security. We should protect our ports, chemical plants, and other potential targets.

Next, we have to invest in our schools. The No Child Left Behind act promised $10 billion more for schools than the president’s budget requested. We need to fully fund education so that schools can hire more teachers, reduce class sizes, and make other investments to help kids learn.

New policies are needed to create jobs and grow the economy. Deficits threaten to crowd out private-sector investment and stifle economic growth. If we’re not careful, deficits will force interest rates and mortgage rates upward. That’s a tax on families and the economy.

It’s not smart to raise taxes on small businesses or middle-class families as the economy recovers. That is why we should lower taxes on businesses creating jobs in America and providing health care for their workers. We should cut taxes for families earning $200,000 a year or less.

Let’s be honest. We can’t afford all the Bush tax cuts. And we can’t close the deficit by reducing spending alone. The hard fact is that even if we cut out all nondefense spending, including education, health care, housing, and law enforcement, the budget would still not be balanced.

We should suspend the tax cuts for the top bracket and reform the estate tax so that small businesses, family farms, and all estates under $20 million are exempted, but we can’t afford to eliminate it entirely.

American people deserve and want us to be honest about the money we have and where it’s going. Unfortunately, the budget passed by Congress last Thursday fails that test.

U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, a Memphis Democrat, represents the 9th District of Tennessee.

(Editor’s note: Last week’s Flyer editorial, alluded to here by Rep. Harold Ford, expressed our view that the Congressman — like much of his party’s leadership — is too assiduous about following the lead of President Bush in matters of both domestic and foreign policy, especially in regard to the war in Iraq and a proposed new round of tax cuts. That editorial can be reviewed on the Flyer Web site at MemphisFlyer.com. As the response below indicates, we complimented Congressman Ford for the attention he paid to area-wide tornado damage but recommended he express a like measure of concern for his constituents’ interests in the indicated policy areas.)

Your editorial of May 15th advises me to “Take Note, Congressman.” I am taking note and listening to my constituents, and I would like to address some mischaracterizations in your piece.

You write that I am basing my political hopes on “the dubious principle of splitting the difference with the President.” But my positions on issues aren’t determined by an inclination to go along with the President — or by an inclination to oppose him. I worked hard for Al Gore in 2000 and have endorsed John Kerry to replace President Bush in 2004. Sometimes I agree with this President and most times I don’t, and I have been equally outspoken on both scores.

For example, I supported the congressional resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq — not the original “blank check” that the President asked for, but the narrowly tailored resolution that I worked with Republicans and Democrats to craft.

My position on Iraq was based on the available intelligence that Iraq was developing chemical and biological weapons and possibly nuclear weapons. It was the same intelligence that President Clinton had, which informed that Democratic administration’s similar policy toward disarming Iraq. If it turns out that our intelligence overestimated the threat, we need to take a serious look at revamping the way we gather it. Regardless, I continue to believe the world is safer now that Saddam Hussein is out of power.

As for domestic issues, I have forcefully opposed the President’s failed economic agenda, and have made no bones about it. I voted against the President’s tax cuts in 2001, and last week voted against this new round of tax cuts.

It is true that I support tax cuts — but tax cuts of a radically different nature. In contrast to the President’s elimination of taxation on dividends, I would grant every worker and employer a two-month holiday from the payroll tax.This tax cut is faster, broader, cheaper, and more stimulative than President Bush’s.Under my plan, everybody would get a tax cut, from chief executives to the janitors who clean their offices.I also support $100 billion in federal aid to states like Tennessee that are facing budget shortfalls that threaten funding for schools, hospitals, and law enforcement. The President’s plan doesn’t include a dime for the states. Families in the 9th District looking for work or without health care hardly believe these differences are “modest.”

This is America, and we are free to disagree on issues. I accept and welcome criticism with hopes of learning from it. But I want to take a strident, personal objection to your newspaper’s insinuation that my concern for the tornado victims in Jackson was motivated by political calculations.

Our neighbors in Tennessee suffered tragedy and devastation. I extended my prayers and support without hesitation and certainly without calculation. That’s what we do when families are in need. We don’t calculate — we unite, and we act. I was proud to join Congressman Tanner in supporting Governor Bredesen’s request for federal disaster assistance, a request that was answered quickly by the White House. Your cynical insinuations about politics insult the families who have lost loved ones, homes, and businesses.

Harold Ford, a Memphis Democrat, represents the 9th District of Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives.