Starve The Beast

This phrase, coined by special interest conservative politicians sounds good on paper. Cut taxes and the government will shrink to the point that the nation will become a loose association of state governments. Starve the state government beasts and the states become a loose association of local governments. Starve the local government beasts and minimal services such as fire, and police departments, streets maintenance sanitation and recreation suffer.

The congress has succeeded in starving the infrastructure beast to the point that many of our bridges and highways are in critical need of repair. Airports and air traffic control systems are nearing third world status. Some commentators blame the Philadelphia train crash on a starved safety budget.

The research and development function of the beast that was once considered to be the best in the world is slowly eroding. For example the National Institute of Health (NIH) reports that its ability to support vital research at more than 2,500 universities and organizations across the nation is reeling from a decline in funding that threatens our health, our economy, and our standing as the world leader in biomedical innovation.

After 10 years of essentially flat budgets eroded by the effects of inflation, and now precipitously worsened by the impact of sequestration (an automatic, across-the-board 5.5% cut in NIH support), NIH’s purchasing power has been cut by almost 25% compared to a decade ago.

- See more at: http://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/2013/09/24/one-nation-in-support-of-biomedical-research/#sthash.JmWEX87a.dpuf

Closer to home the starving state of Ohio beast has balanced its budget and cut taxes. In doing so the state has starved schools and local governments where the fiscal rubber meets the road. Can you say local tax levies?

Paul Hunter

budhunter@frontier.com