Where's The Change?

by J. M., Suffield, CT

Last year, candidate Bill Clinton said "We need change" all during his campaign. Since he took office, he has not made any positive changes that will improve this country in the years ahead. He has also broken many promises made during last year's campaign. He promised that he would cut taxes on the middle class, permit homosexuals to serve openly in the military, release a health care plan in the first 100 days of his presidency, would raise taxes only on the rich, and many more.

In terms of fiscal policy, President Clinton is going down the same road as George Bush when he passed the 1990 budget, which promised to reduce the federal deficit by 500 billion dollars over 5 years. Instead of putting our country out of a recession, that plan made the recession even worse. In August, President Clinton passed an identical plan which, ironically, will reduce the deficit 500 billion dollars over five years. We were supposed to have change, not the same horrible fiscal policy that has driven our national debt through the roof. The 1990 budget deal didn't work because it raised taxes on the people who make this country work, or in other words, the wealthy, and it didn't cut spending, it only reduced the proposed increases in spending. President Clinton frequently claims that it was "the last 12 years" of leadership that created this huge four trillion dollar national debt. It has only been the last three years that caused the deficit to skyrocket. Under the leadership of President Reagan, the deficit actually decreased and there was also a record 72 consecutive months of growth because he lowered tax rates on everybody and he cut spending.

During the past month, President Clinton released his health care plan. The goal of this plan is that every American will be covered. It would be great if that can accomplished, but this idea is unrealistic. The troublesome part of this plan is that the federal government will run health care and a whole new government bureaucracy will be created and the national debt will increase.

The only thing the federal government does well is provide our country a strong national defense. The long-term solution for the health care problem is for the federal government to provide vouchers and let the American people shop for the health care plan that is best for them. This will force insurance companies to lower costs and provide more benefits than they currently do.

During last year's presidential campaign, candidate Clinton said he was a moderate and he denied charges that he was a liberal. The fact is that President Clinton is more of liberal than he is a moderate. On the third day of his presidency, he signed an executive order to lift the so-called "gag rule" on abortions implemented by George Bush and he stated that he might allow the French abortion pill, RU-486, to be used in this country. He also backed the lifting of the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, but had to compromise with the "Don't ask, don't tell policy," which allows homosexuals to serve in the military, but they must keep their lifestyle in the closet. All of the members of his cabinet range in views between moderately liberal to socialist. All of these things prove that President Clinton really is a liberal.

Because President Clinton has not provided real change, he will probably not be re-elected in 1996. If that happens, our next president should back ideas like a balanced budget amendment, a line-item veto, and term limits for congressmen. A balanced budget amendment would be an amendment to the Constitution that makes it mandatory to balance the federal budget every year. The budget has not been balanced since 1969. A line-item veto would allow the president to pass a bill and veto the items in the bill he doesn't want. And if term limits were implemented, Congress would not be as corrupt as it is now. When will we see real change in Washington?