The American men and women who fought overseas and sacrificed at home during World War II became known as the Greatest Generation. Following generations made great progress on issues like civil rights, the environment, infrastructure, the social safety net and more. Each generation was proud that they were making things better for their children and grandchildren. We need to decide how our generation will be remembered.
With our current government, we are going backward in many of these areas. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently reported that the latest tax cuts are helping to push the nation toward an unprecedented level of debt. This will place a significant burden on future generations and increase the risk of another financial crisis.
President Trump, ignoring the vast majority of climate scientists and thumbing his nose at virtually every other country worldwide, has pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord designed to combat climate change. Our president recently bragged of cutting more regulations than any other president. Many of these were environmental regulations that protect our air and water from the worst polluters.
The distribution of wealth continues to worsen, with more and more of our country’s wealth concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. The recent tax cuts make this even worse with the vast majority of the benefits going to corporations and the wealthy. Our infrastructure is crumbling, but there is little money to address this serious issue. The Republicans in Congress plan to offset part of the predicted massive deficits by cutting safety net programs.
If we don’t change course, we will have sacrificed our financial future, our environment and more in exchange for a few extra dollars each week in our paycheck. We will likely be remembered as the Greediest Generation.
Eric Selby
Lake Stevens
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