There are tough times ahead

Charles Reichley
Published: November 6, 2008

By the time you read this, we’ll know who the next president is (I hope). We’ll also know how many more Democrats have been elected to pad their majorities in the House and Senate. While my wish is
for a divided government, because that has generally been best for the country, I don’t really have hope for such an outcome.

No matter what happens in this election, there are tough times ahead, both nationally and locally.  The current Congress has made a mess of our economy, focusing on too many things of little
consequence or importance while a tsunami of problems, largely of its making, went untended to. 

The most useful thing accomplished was the failure of the Democratic leadership to renew the offshore oil drilling ban. Gas prices have dropped significantly. But with bigger majorities, it is likely a new
ban will be high on the Democrats’ agenda. We can also expect higher electric bills as Congress targets coal-fired generating plants.

The financial bailout, barely tolerable in the hands of the current administration, is a nightmare waiting to happen under a more activist leadership looking to redistribute wealth from those who work for a
living to those who don’t. When everybody is guaranteed a house regardless of the ability to pay, private property ownership could become a quaint memory.

Banks are now reporting that people are defaulting on their credit card debt at an alarming rate. It seems people are getting the message “Yes We Can,” meaning we can borrow money, buy stuff we can’t
afford and then not pay back the money. We are told government should give us free health care, free houses, free food and Bill Gates should pay for it all. So, it’s no wonder people think someone else
should pay for their big-screen TV.

Things would be better with sound fiscal discipline in Washington, but “the people” have not seen fit to vote for fiscal discipline, opting instead to elect those who promise to rob the rich to pay them for
their support. But as you punish those who actually make money and create jobs, in order to buy votes, those people stop creating jobs and making money. 

Locally, the Manassas Circuit City store is going out of business. Circuit City was already in trouble before the credit crisis and they simply can’t keep operating losing stores.  On the bright side, there
should be some good bargains as they sell out their inventory. When they are gone, we’ll have fewer choices and higher prices.

Car sales have dropped and I imagine local dealerships are hurting. If people are afraid to spend money, businesses lose money and fire workers, which makes more people afraid to spend money,
continuing the cycle. Eventually, the cycle reverses, but knowing the future will be brighter doesn’t make the tough times any easier.

Our county government is in better shape than our neighbor Fairfax.  But we face difficult decisions as lower home prices and higher unemployment lowers revenue. The schools face a $100 million
shortfall, while the county could need to make up over $80 million. Nobody wants a big tax hike in tough times, but it won’t be easy to cut so much spending out of the budget. 

With no help from Washington, Virginia faces some hard budget choices to keep our books balanced.  Sadly, Virginia was in great shape, with very low unemployment and high pay especially in Northern
Virginia — but Gov. Tim Kaine and company managed to spend most of the money raised by our strong economy. We have a rainy day fund, but not enough for the expected hardships. Kaine has
already announced layoffs, and it is likely the county will follow suit to close the budget gap next year. 

The county has asked departments to assess the damage for cuts of 10, 20 and even 30 percent. I believe 10 percent should be doable, but 30 percent would be a rather large reduction to deal with. I
hope we don’t have to cut that much, but clearly there will be a lot less money to distribute to all the special interests who ask for our tax dollars every year.

So, I fear for our country, and our state. The country has chosen our representatives and has chosen poorly. I am cautiously optimistic that our local leadership is up to the challenge and wish I had the
same confidence in our governor and in our Congress.

Charles Reichley has been a Prince William County resident since 1981. He can be reached at critically .