“Yes, we can!” Rousing renditions of this jingoistic refrain rent the air during the Democratic National Convention in Denver. We are told that as Americans, there are no limits to what we can do.
Without privatizing Social Security, we can make sure that it is solvent. We won’t hurt the feelings of the seniors by telling them that the new retirement age will be 70 years. We can save Medicare for years to come, but we will do that without apportioning benefits according to income and without increasing deductibles or introducing co-pays for which seniors would be responsible.
We will thumb our noses at the oil barons of this world by developing alternative energy sources. We will wend our way to the wind corridors of America behind T. Boone Pickens and light up millions of American homes with wind power. We will forget that the very oil companies we bash are also the ones involved in the development of alternative energy. They are the ones with the money and the manpower to build and maintain windmills.
Going green is neither easy nor cheap. Hybrid buses and energy-efficient cars cost more. Transition to green energy will be long and painful and cannot occur if there is no collaboration of the government with the oil industry. Taxing big oil and giving subsidies for green energy will keep gas prices high. The Democrats who shed copious tears for the travails of the middle class don’t discuss the sacrifices the greening of America will demand. They charge shouting, “Yes, we can!”
Barack Obama does not explain that every alternative energy source brings its own headaches. Ethanol, as a biofuel, created a buzz at its inception, but now we know that when corn and grain are diverted to the production of ethanol, food prices go up, squeezing the poor and the middle class the most.
Windmills are marvelous, but many people don’t want them, their mighty blades circling, in the vicinity of homes. Conservation is vital, but it will barely put a dent in our insatiable energy needs.
Increased reliance on nuclear power may keep the oil barons at bay, but Obama has not warmed up to this idea wholeheartedly due to real fears about nuclear waste. Yet he boasts that with his policies, America will be energy-independent in 10 years. Not true! We will have a hybrid energy picture and continue to import plenty of oil for decades to come, even as we transition to a green economy. The truth, though, has little say in the world of “Yes, we can!”
Take for instance health care: When radically reformed to cover millions of Americans, it will break the bank. I’ve never heard discussions about the type of benefits universal health care will provide. Don’t expect “caviar or champagne” with this type of coverage. Don’t even expect “meat and potatoes.” It will be more like “bread and water” for everyone.
Things are bad now, and hard as this may be to imagine, they could get worse. We will be forced to ration health care to the entire population. Opting out won’t be possible if sweeping mandates are enacted to start this program. Look no further than Medicare, whose solvency is always in question, for answers to what could happen. Despite these realities on the ground, from sea to shining sea, the thunderous refrain is “Yes, we can!”
Even a fraction of the economic plan the Democrats put forth is achievable only if the government takes in more tax revenues and spends less. Obama wants to tax the top 5 percent. To the rest of the 95 percent of Americans, he says he will give tax breaks. The top 5 percent includes several small businesses that provide employment. If mandatory employee health coverage is imposed and taxes increase, employers will cut their work force in response. This will do nothing to help the economy.
At no point do Democrats explain how to spend less. When the Iraq war ends, there won’t be plenty of money to go around. We are going into debt for it now.
However you slice the Obama-Joe Biden rhetoric, the numbers don’t add up. Though “Yes, we can!” is a great inspiration to the Democrats and the Republicans alike, the more relevant and apt refrain from the voters should be “How can we?”
Usha Nellore is a writer living in Bel Air. Reach her at [email protected].
