There is only one sacred cow

To the Editor ( October 21, 2011 )

There is only one sacred cow.

Some people don’t know why there are protests going on. ( The occupy Wall Street movement ) It is because there is only one sacred cow; all others are just beloved pets. I think that metaphor works very well. But it needs an explanation.

A sacred cow is something you can not kill. In governmental budget terms there is only one item that is untouchable; that is debt service payments. By all the powers of law, order and market stability, thou have no right to tinker with the payments. Everything else in the budget, from health care to entitlement plans for civil servants, are beloved pets that some people don’t want cut to pieces.

The problems with our sacred cow are; 1 that it does no one any noticeable good 2 it is getting larger 3 it gets priority over all other cows.

When the government collects taxes, it is required to pay the sacred cow first. Whatever money is left over then goes to fund all the social programs we enjoy. The normal tax revenue could cover these programs, if we were not servicing the debt. But because we must honor the cow our tax dollars do not cover our social programs.

The first reason people are protesting is a matter of justice. Our tax dollars are going directly to the banks and institutions. They get richer as we get poorer. This is basically a wealth transfer system from the average citizens (the 99%) to the wealthy (1%).

The second reason is a matter of governmental mismanagement. The one thing we should not do as part of our plan to solve our debt problem is; borrow more money. Yet that is exactly what we keep doing. A little cut back here, a tiny tax increase there, and a loan of a few billion more. In New Brunswick the sacred cow is the third largest item in the budget. What will we do if it tops the list?

The third reason is a matter of perception. The debt seems to be of no use to anyone, except the bankers who profit from it. Loans for economic stimulus are fluffy clouds that may or may not bring some benefit. Constant cuts to social services are hard facts that make life difficult for people.

So the unemployed ask; in a world where top executives make millions and bank profits are billions, why must we suffer?

Think about it.