Win the future by investing in the future

Throughout this budget
debate, it is incumbent upon Democrats to tell the truth to the American people.
We cannot contribute, as Republicans have, to the myth that the only way to trim
these deficits is to privatize Medicare and Social Security, or that a single slash
to non-defense discretionary programs can make a meaningful dent in America’s deficit
without doing great harm to our economy.

{mosads}These are lies, pure
and simple.

Firstly, Medicare and
Social Security, the safety nets on which America’s working families rely during
their golden years, are not driving today’s deficits as Republicans would have us
believe. Over the next decade, the main source of our deficits will be two key Republican
policies: two Bush-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the extension of the Bush
tax cuts for the wealthy. Together, these two policies will require a projected
$7 trillion in deficit spending over the next decade. In comparison, Social Security
and Medicare barely move the dial.

Secondly, discretionary
spending comprises just 16 percent of the Federal Budget. Attacking this portion
of the budget is never going to substantially solve the problem of reducing deficits.
What besides discretionary spending is the critical area wherein “game-changing”
investments are made to ensure that America wins the future?

In order to win the future,
we need to invest in the future. 

In the president’s budget,
the targeted investments in education get us a whole lot closer to that win. Investments
in education are the key to our economic competitiveness. There is a mismatch between
the skills needed for high-growth job sectors and our students’ skill sets. Recent
international testing shows the U.S. slipping badly compared to our competitors
in reading, math and science.

We are being out-competed
because we are being out-invested. Delivering the biggest bang for the buck, the
president, in response, calls for $600 million for School Improvement Grants, $150
million for Promise Neighborhoods and funding increases for the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act. These are the kind of investments that are essential
to lowering unemployment and should be common sense for every member of Congress.

Another way to win the
future is the president’s call for a $53 billion investment in high-speed rail over
the next six years. America’s transcontinental railroad and interstate highway system
shows that a strong transportation infrastructure is vital to the health of our
nation’s economy. Given the rising security and financial costs associated with
our energy dependence, high-speed rail is quickly becoming the future of ground
transportation. Countries in Europe and Asia are already steps ahead of us and there
is a legitimate fear that America is quickly falling behind. China, which began
high-speed rail service in 2007, is expected to soon have more miles of high-speed
rail than any other county in the world. Japan is already building its next major
high-speed rail line, which will connect Tokyo to Osaka, moving their people and
commerce at lightning speed.

In Silicon Valley, a
region I represent, we understand three important letters: ROI, or Return On Investment.
The State of California’s entire high-speed rail project, which is already armed
with $9 billion in state bonds and about $3.6 billion in federal dollars, would
be two-thirds towards full funding with the investment from the president’s
request. To keep America competitive, our nation’s future depends on a high-growth
economy — and high-speed rail can take us there.

Keeping America competitive
will not happen, as Republicans posit, by eroding further America’s intellectual
and infrastructural future. Instead, by investing in education, energy and infrastructure,
as the president’s budget proposes, we guarantee that America remains resilient,
employed and prosperous. This is how we win the future.

Honda, House Democratic senior whip, serves on
the House Budget and Appropriations Committees.