Editorials

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 300 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Friday, July 4, 2008 Fragile independence is showing many cracks Ever since history's most visionary rebels declared this nation's independence 232 years ago, a constant challenge has been to hold onto it while preserving the ideals of freedom it represents. Through war, civil strife, waves of immigration, industrialization, economic depression and globalization, the Founders' dreams of freedom and opportunity have survived amazingly well. Threats to our independence, however, still lurk -- and the most serious are of our own making. Our national debt stands at a scandalous $9.5 trillion (that's $9,500,000,000,000.00), more than $31,000 for every American man, woman and child. Hugely expensive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and unsustainable increases to existing programs, are simply being added to the tab. The costs of Medicare and Medicaid, which have shot skyward in recent years thanks to federal largess, will leave us hopelessly indebted to and at the mercy of foreign creditors such as China if major changes aren't made. Adding a massive prescription-drug benefit in 2006 only made the fiscal bleeding worse. And every fill-up this holiday weekend will be a painful reminder of our dependence on foreign oil. Keeping our hard-fought independence requires facing reality and making changes that may cause short-term pain. The Founders, and every subsequent generation through the one that fought and won World War II, understood the value -- indeed, the requirement -- of short-term pain for long-term gain. Too few of today's adults, seduced by promises that you can have it all now and pay for it later, will have anything to do with financial self-discipline. Even our presidential candidates play along, promising more, more, more without even paying lip service to how we'll begin to right our fiscal ship. Risky, irresponsible mortgage loans go south? Bail out the borrower and the lender. Health care costs threatening to bankrupt businesses, individuals or even the treasury? Let the next generation deal with the fallout. Perhaps the prospect of $5 or even $6 a gallon gasoline will finally be shock enough to spark real progress in conservation and the development of energy alternatives. But the refusal of our political leaders -- and, by and large, the rest of us -- to face the fact that we can't live beyond our means forever remains. If that doesn't change, and soon, history's greatest nation won't likely be around to celebrate its independence 232 years from now.

1. Machinists pore over Boeing's 'final offer' 2. Monroe teen critically hurt after falling off moving SUV 3. Everett kite shop closing after 16 years 4. 'I thought I was dead,' teen rescued from Three Fingers Mountain says 5. Cyclist injured after being hit by semi 6. Machinists union rejects Boeing's final contract offer 7. UPDATE: Machinists leaders reject Boeing contract 8. Game over for some Seahawks 9. More schools in state added to No Child Left Behind watch list 10. Poll: Will the Machinists get enough votes to strike the Boeing Co.? 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

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