“Where's the shared sacrifice?”

Democrats ask the question; we provide the answer

Craig Wagner - March 26, 2003

The Nielsen ratings prove it: Americans are addicted to the non-stop war coverage cable television offers for news junkies. I am no exception. One of Tuesday night's guests on the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes” was Sen. John Corzine, an affable New Jersey Democrat who won his seat by spending some of the spare change he earned running Goldman Sachs, a leading investment-banking firm.

The topic of the discussion -- no surprise -- was the war, specifically how we're going to pay the bills. Yesterday, the Senate passed its final version of next year's budget, stripping away nearly half of President Bush's proposed tax cuts. Many well-to-do Democrats, including Corzine and our very own retail-giant-heir Mark Dayton, believe this isn't enough. They would like to deny even more tax cuts to the American worker.

Corzine asked Sean Hannity, “Where's the shared sacrifice?” It's scary news for all of us that Democrats can now use war as a means to take more money out of the economy. Many on the left can finally sound reasonable by claiming it's our patriotic duty to pay higher taxes to support the war effort. What good American could oppose this?

Unfortunately, many good Americans will not look to see where the Democrats want to spend the extra money. Are the Democrats proposing a pay raise for the soldiers risking their lives, or are they proposing a pay raise and more perks for millions of unionized government employees? Are they proposing increased Pentagon spending to make our fighting forces stronger, or are they proposing more pork-barrel spending to build bridges – bridges to re-election – in their home states?

Americans are willing to support our fighting men and women with much more than taxes. To a Democratic politician, support means high taxes. To a main-street American, support means changing your lifestyle, if necessary, to help our soldiers achieve their objectives and come home safely.

The National D-day Museum in New Orleans – a mandatory attraction for all history buffs – has several artifacts that demonstrate how far Americans at home went to help win World War II. Advertisements, banners, signs and billboards encouraged Americans to eat less, recycle and watch  their natural resource consumption. Little historical significance is given to the handful of people who insulted our fighting men and women by staging cynical rallies and riots; even less is given to those who refused to make modest sacrifices.

As the war progresses, Democrats will continue to take psychological advantage of the gratitude Americans share for our military. Democrats want you, the taxpayer, to make sacrifices, while non-essential government programs sacrifice nothing. Eight years of military cuts under the Clinton Administration proved that Democrats will accept no cuts to their sacrosanct federal bureaucracy, but will happily take money from workers struggling to make ends meet.

Republicans believe a strong military, a vibrant economy, a secure homeland and individual liberties are the four cornerstones of our country, while government largesse is an essential cornerstone of the Democratic Party (with first-, second- and third-trimester abortions providing the other three). The time is now for the Democrats to put all of America -- military and civilian -- ahead of their special interests.

Voters will remember the politicians who refuse to put on hold the insatiable appetites of their big contributors. Democrats have many more Senate seats at stake than Republicans in 2004. If they continue politicking over who pays for what during wartime, they will find themselves on the short end of a landslide election that will take away what little power their party has, including the power to filibuster the constitutional process of judicial appointees.

Sen. Corzine is right – we all agree that shared sacrifices are essential in wartime. Once we are rest assured that our military and national security are adequately funded, first at the expense of non-essential government programs, there is no doubt that Americans will step up to cover the difference. First, however, Republicans and Democrats owe us an effort to cover the cost of war without taking back more of our hard-earned dollars, dollars that will be essential to recovering the economy at home and in post-war Iraq.