Crises can have one of two effects on a populace and it’s leadership. Either people panic and lose their heads along with their better judgment or they pull together and accomplish feats previously thought impossible. Americans can take pride in the fact that they usually react in the latter manner. When times get tough we the people tend to summon an inner strength and resolve that propels us to rise to the occasion and answer the call. That this has been the case from our founding until now is an incontrovertible truth.
In almost every regard the American people have answered the call once again in light of the nation’s most recent crises-----Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath. The devastation along the gulf coast has been total and millions have been displaced from their homes, left with nothing but the clothes on their back. These millions have needed a helping hand from the their fellow Americans and the American people have offered it. Volunteers from all over the country are assisting in the recovery and rebuilding efforts and donations are flowing in from all over the nation. $5 million alone was raised in the Monday night telethon sponsored by the National Football League. Americans will do all they can to help in any way they can and we will not stop until the region is rebuilt and every displaced American is back in their homes.
Out of character however has been the reaction from some of our political leaders in this unfortunate ordeal. Instead of buckling down and adding a clear-headed approach many on capitol hill are acting hysterically, running around like chickens with their heads severed off. Take Minority Leader Harry Reid for example, who has proposed price controls on energy to curb price "gouging" in the market. With all due respect Mr. Minority Leader, no price "gouging" is occurring. Exorbitant energy prices are a result of the damage to refinery facilities in the gulf and a surge in world energy demand that the market is still adjusting to. Contrary to your instincts sir those evil energy companies are not colluding together to stick it to the American people at an advantageous moment to them.
The hysteria is not exclusive to Democrats either, many Republicans on the hill are beginning to panic as well. A handful of Republican senators have indicated a desire to raise certain taxes in order to cover the costs of Katrina relief, namely the capitol gains tax, currently at 15%. Possibly as much as price controls, hiking taxes would prove disastrous. The federal government will bring in $262 billion more in revenues for fiscal year ‘05 than in the previous year, entirely a result of the Bush tax-cuts which have grown the economy, created more jobs and subsequently more taxpayers. Raising taxes would reverse all of this and eventually result in the decline of federal revenues. Hiking taxes on capitol gains would also, as OpinionJournal has explained in some detail, scare investors at a time when the national economy is tenuously dependent on clear-headed leadership from Washington.
To cover the unanticipated costs of Katrina relief Republicans in Washington should act like Republicans for a change and cut federal spending, an idea completely foreign to most of them these days. A good place to start would be eliminating the type of pork that so riddled the transportation and energy bills. Republicans have allowed Porky the money-eating pig to feast at the federal trough for far too long, and as a result little Porky has grown into a large and odious boar. The free lunch has to stop. It’s time the federal government went on a diet and stopped feeding big ol' Porky.
Hat Tip: OpinionJournal, George Will
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