There’s no easy answer to this

The seemingly endless debate over how to handle the expiration of the “Bush Tax Cuts” does not have an easy answer. The Republican position of “all must benefit” if they are going to give their approval in the House of Representatives sounds a little like a very stubborn political position intended to embarrass the Democrats and the president.

Through the political smoke it is obvious that neither political party has the intestinal fortitude to work on the real problems — revision of the tax code to include closing the loopholes available to the rich and the corporations and convincing our business leaders (banks, manufacturing, small business persons, etc.) to recognize that this is a time for personal and business sacrifice for the benefit of our nation.

My work experiences give me every reason to believe that our nation has the ability to do what is needed in times of crisis — war, high unemployment, economic catastrophe or whatever. We are blessed with the resources, but we need solid nation-wide leadership with a desire for all to benefit from their decisions — personally, nationally, internationally. The business community will be no better off if they amass millions in personal wealth but have no one building houses, assembling cars or raising food. For the leaders of the banking/financial communities to take the long-term view in an entirely unselfish manner, our government is going to have to be more responsible for their own activities. When we hear about government excesses such as the lavish trips at taxpayer expenses, it is hard to believe the business community is going to initiate the cost-cutting activities that will bring back lost American jobs to our shores.

Currently a prominent Democrat Senator is accusing candidate Mitt Romney of not paying federal income taxes for several years. This may or may not be true, but who in government has the ability to write fair and equitable tax codes? Certainly those of us in northwest Arkansas who contribute to the government training trips can neither affect the writing of the tax codes nor can we stop the approval of the trips on our own. We are dependent on the actions of our elected congressional leaders and the individual we elect as our president. Where are they in solving the tax rate problem? Missing in Action, as usual, pointing the finger at each other as they forget that three fingers point back toward the one who is pointing the finger at another. There is probably no single item that we discuss over coffee that is more important than who we elect to public office in trying times like these.

We have come to the point in our society where we accept the fact that politicians exaggerate (more bluntly, they lie) to get elected. Only by adding an additional choice of “none of the above” to the ballot will we expose the hypocrisy of our potential leadership. Having studied statistics in several levels of college courses, I know one can do whatever is necessary to produce a generally acceptable result in any study or poll. So, when we are given a number for non-farm job creation, my skepticism kicks in. And, all too frequently the number is adjusted next month showing how far off they are on a regular reporting basis. I love our country, but as I grow older and continue to watch how we are manipulated by the government and the news media, my faith in change wanes.

It is a struggle, takes time and intestinal fortitude, but we must, absolutely must, continue to question and fight for what we believe America was and still can be.

••• Editor’s note: Leo Lynch is an award-winning columnist. A native of Benton County, he has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at prtnews@nwaonline.com.