Chris Bowers over at MyDD has an article on
the debt and deficit and why he thinks it's a loser issue.
I think the debt and deficit are winner issues for the Democrats- they just have to be framed correctly. Just about everyone understands the basic concepts- if you can buy a house or car, hold down a job, have a couple of credit cards, and balance your checkbook, you already understand the issue. The problem is that the numbers are so huge people have no grasp of them.
What we need to do is make the numbers small enough for people to understand.
7.4 trillion. 9 trillion. 450 billion. 300 billion. 754 billion to 1.2 trillion. The numbers that get thrown around in the budget debate defy the imagination. I'm a pretty numerate person (I've studied number theory
for fun), but even I have a hard time visualizing these numbers. Most people don't really have a clear concept of what a million dollars means (hint: 33 years at $30K/year), let alone a billion or a trillion. So the numbers become meaningless- 8.7 gazillion, 200 uppityillion, lots and lots, whatever. What's that got to do with me?
The trick, I think, is to bring the scale back down to something people understand. 18 gazillion dollars may be a meaningless number- but $25,000 I understand. And $25,000 is what every man, woman, and child owes for the Federal Debt. You owe that. And you, and you, and you. And Granny and Gramps owe $50,000 between them, and Johnny Jr and Janey. Baby owes $25,000 too.
The average family of four owes $100,000. Good lord- you can buy a house for that in most parts of the country! The goverment quietly took out a second mortage on your home. And you're going to have to pay it back. Have a nice day.
Bush's deficit is $1,500 per person. Or $6,000 for a family of four. Counting in the "worthless" bonds Social Security is buying, it's more like $2,000 a person, or $8,000 for a family of four. It also stands in stark contrast to the $600 tax rebate we got. Feel happy now?
Bush's "transistional costs" to his Social Security plan is somewhere between $3,300 and $6,600 dollars per person- or $13,200 to $26,400 for a family of four. That's a new car. Bush's Medicare plan is going to cost, per person, $2,400 to $4,000 per person, or $9,600 to $16,000 for a family of four.
We've spent over $1,000 a person ($4,000 for a family of four) in Iraq already, and seem to be ready to spend it again. Is Iraqi liberation worth that $1,000? (This is ignoring the human cost- lives lost and lives ruined).
Now we have the debate framed in a way people understand. They may not under billions and trillions- but $100,000- that's a lot of money! And $1,500 ain't no chump change either! Now the cost of Republican mismangement is plain.