Torch, Spring/Summer 2008

By Kevin Sims, Ph.D. 59 percent. With growing layoffs, tight credit, and a troubled housing market, to say the least, voters are, quite understandably, concerned about the economy. Annual government spending has ballooned to more than 50 percent higher than the Clinton-era budgets a decade ago. Of that, only 21 cents of every taxpayer dollar goes to national defense and homeland security. By contrast, 54 cents goes to entitlements like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and eight cents goes to servicing the national debt. Meanwhile, the federal deficit continues to grow, raising the national debt. Those debts tighten the money supply, increasing the costs of investment and slowing economic growth and prosperity. Campaign 2008 U nless you’ve been living in seclusion, you’ve probably noticed that we are firmly engulfed in the 2008 presidential campaign. The airwaves reverberate with earnest promises embedded in glitzy campaign advertisements intended to persuade the most cynical voter. Frequently lost in all of this activity is any reasonable or understandable discussion of the central issues of the campaign. Candidate speeches are designed for short sound bites, and advertisements often communicate only in broad generalities, resulting in a surface-level presentation of the issues that most affect concerned voters. And what issues there are! Everything from property tax increases to pay for new school buildings to the war in Iraq. The economy and the threat of a recession, health care for every American citizen, universal pre-kindergarten education, immigration, tax cuts, abortion, same-sex marriage, and rising gasoline prices all present potential voters with a plethora of choices and decisions. So, what is a wise and godly American to do? The following overview serves as a guide to the more critical issues facing the nation this election year. The State of the Economy “It’s the economy, stupid” has once again become the rallying cry for some of the presidential candidates. Just this past spring, increasing economic worries caused the issue to soar past the war in Iraq as the top issue for Americans — 67 percent to 48 percent, respectively, according to the Associated Press-Yahoo News Poll released on April 21. The closely related issue of rising gasoline prices also beat out the war at Top: Traffic headed into the U.S. backs up at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in Tijuana, Mexico. Ten years after the U.S. government issued the first of its 9 million “laser visas” to Mexican citizens, border inspectors rarely scan the cards to verify fingerprints and photograph stored on their magnetic stripes. Government officials say that checking more people would create too big a backup at the border, where hours-long traffic jams are already common. Bottom: Retail gas prices set new records Tuesday May 6, 2008, on their seemingly relentless march toward $4 a gallon, and diesel prices pushed further above $4.50 a gallon. Crude futures, meanwhile, surged to a new record of $117 a barrel. 8 TORCH The Critical Issues AP Photo/Denis Poroy AP Photo/Nick Ut