As a politician who has for his entire career extolled the virtues of moderate and common sense government policies, the situation we all find ourselves in today has me worried about this nation's future. Because a lot of people in both parties have made some bad decisions, America is now broke and deeply in debt.
Due to our grave economic situation, over the next few years, Washington has a lot of hard choices to make about which programs to fund and which ones to cut. If our government makes bad choices about spending cuts, it will erode the public's trust. Without the public's trust, our leaders will not have the political will to make the necessary spending cuts that are critical to getting our country on solid economic footing.
To preserve the public's confidence in government, our leaders must protect programs that save lives, create jobs and spur innovation while simultaneously cut programs that are wasteful, duplicative and frivolous.
One type of government program that needs to be eliminated is the wasteful spending that is done in the name of fighting terrorism - but does not make us any safer. Like all Americans, I believe in a robust national defense. But a recent expose in The Washington Post found that "some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence" and that "Many security and intelligence agencies do the same work, creating redundancy and waste." This government largess is not protecting our families or national interests from terrorists - it is only creating the impression that the government is doing something to fight terror. Cutting these types of programs would help to restore the public's trust in government and should be done immediately. This is especially true with so many new military retirees and veterans returning home from wars in the Middle East who need access to healthcare and other critical government programs that cost money.
While the battle over Medicare and Medicaid has been the focus of the recent debate over healthcare cuts, there is another debate over funding that could erode the public's trust in government. As you read this, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is considering whether or not it makes economic sense to recommend that all infants under two in the United States are vaccinated against meningococcal disease. Commonly called meningitis, meningococcal bacteria can kill in hours and those who survive frequently face multiple amputations, hearing loss, or brain damage. It's a very scary illness for any new parent to have to contemplate.
The Food & Drug Administration has already approved a meningitis vaccine for this age group and more are on their way. So, the only reason that CDC would even consider not vaccinating infants is because, while the disease is horrific, the total number of infants affected is not great. If the CDC decides against recommending that infants are vaccinated against meningococcal disease it would be the first time a safe and proven vaccine was not recommended for use by physicians. Stories on the evening news about infants dying from a preventable disease would surely undermine confidence in government.
It seems to me, that denying a vaccine for infants is short-sighted at best. This is especially true, as our government continues to waste millions and millions of dollars a year on programs that do little or nothing for the American people - like on the redundant and wasteful national security funding exposed by the Washington Post.
No doubt about it, our leaders face some really difficult decisions about deciding which programs to cut and which ones to preserve. Our leaders have little room for error, because if the American people lose faith in the government's decision making, they will not tolerate the types of cuts we need to make to get our debt under control. Let's us all pray that our government shows more wisdom now, than it has in the recent past.
Ronnie Shows is a former Blue Dog Democrat Congressman from Mississippi