| Snyder discusses terrorism,
economy
BY DALE ELLIS
Managing Editor 18 Feb 2003
Terrorism, a souring economy, and the threat of astronomical
budget deficits are the greatest threats facing America today, according to U.S.
Congressman Vic Snyder on a swing through White County Tuesday. Although war talk
concerning Iraq looms large in the news, Snyder said that there is still no consensus
among U.S. allies on how to handle the problem.
"Saddam Hussein and his government have not complied
with what the international community has asked him to do," Snyder said. "The
international community does want compliance."
However, Snyder said that currently there is much
disagreement over just how Hussein should comply with UN and U.S. demands to rid itself of
all weapons of mass destruction. Currently, Hussein has complied with the demand that UN
inspectors be given access to sites across Iraq in search of chemical and biological
weapons sites.
"I want to be optimistic because I would hope at some
point that Hussein or the people around him would recognize that they've got to do
something different," Snyder said.
He did say that the message appears to be getting through to
Iraq and the international community in light of the fact that U-2 aircraft have flown
missions over Iraq and the inspectors have been given access to many sites that had
previously been declared off-limits.
"Those are steps in the right direction," Snyder
said.
On the home front, the congressman said that worries about
the economy continue to plague the country, and efforts by President George W. Bush seem
to be digging the economy into a deeper hole.
"I'm not convinced that the president's plan is the way
to go," he said. "I think clearly their approach to the economy has not been
helpful and will not be helpful. There's been over a $7 trillion swing since Bush took
over as president."
Snyder said that two years ago, when Bush first took office,
predictions of surpluses in the range of $5.5 trillion were being talked about, but it now
appears the nation will face a $2 trillion budget deficit within the next 10 years.
"We're now back into deficit spending," he said, a
situation that will bear down hardest on the 20-something generation just coming of age,
who will not only bear the brunt of care for the ever-burgeoning number of senior
citizens, but will also have to deal with the steadily increasing national debt.
"That does not make for good long-range growth
prospects," Snyder said.
Snyder did say that deficit spending is not always a
negative thing, especially if it is done temporarily for the purpose of economic stimulus,
but over time the effect compounds and becomes detrimental to the overall economic health
of the country.
"You've got to do it in such a way that it contributes
to economic stimulus. For example," he said, "I think we could immediately put
significant sums of money into highway construction, into local police and fire
organizations, because they have things they need to buy. Those are good jobs that would
immediately turn over the economy. But that is not the president's plan."
Snyder said one concern is that the budget deficit,
predicted to hit $307 billion this year, could go much higher should war break out in the
Mideast, and he was critical of Bush for not including money for the war on terrorism in
the budget as well.
"That is a peacetime budget," he said. "It
contains no money for fighting the war on terrorism or against Iraq. I can understand no
money for war because it's not clear there will even be a war, but it makes no sense not
to include money to fight Al-Qaida.
"It's not unreasonable to have a prediction of a
deficit during a time of war," Snyder continued. "but that budget does not yet
include the cost of the war or the war against Al-Qaida." |
