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Millennial Conservatives on Budget, Restoring Trust

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111209014307-jk-hunstman-deficit-00003015-horizontal-galleryI recently wrote about Rep. Paul Ryan’s ability to find a solution to the budget impasse with his senate collogue Sen. Patty Murray. His willingness to come to the table and strike a deal represented an evolved shift from previous GOP positions when faced with having to negotiate a policy solution. It also represented an interest held by millennials and confirmed by polling that we want government to work. However, the first step in making government work is restoring the trust deficit with the American people, and this budget fails to do that.

Getting to the table was half the battle now its time to consider the substance of the bill 293_cartoon_wall_street_bailout_large-2from the millennial perspective. It surprises me that the caricature of millennials is one of entitlement and laziness considering our generation is defined by the Iraq/Afghanistan War, college debt phenomenon, Great Recession, a drastically changed society following 9/11…etc the list goes on. The point here is that millennials understand sacrifice and change. We do not accept sacrifice and change in a manner that continues to erode the trust of Americans in their government like we witnessed when politicians used taxpayer money to bailout Wall Street.

This budget erodes the trust of the American people by breaking the promise of retirement benefits to the many young service members who signed up to serve under the premise those benefits would be there.

This budget erodes the trust of the American people by continuing the generational spending imbalance. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — now, account for about 44 percent of spending, and have been largely excluded from deficit-reduction measures.

While I commend Rep. Paul Ryan for taking the important step of breaking the partisan gridlock; this deal is simply not a good one for the millennial constituency. Though this budget fails to embody the concerns of millennials, I am encouraged by Ben Pollock, a 28 year-old congressional candidate from the Oregon 5th, who courageously embodies the concerns of millennials with his message of restoring both the budget and trust deficit in government. See today’s press release from the Ben Pollock campaign:

This country faces two major deficits. The first is the endless string of budget deficits coming out of Washington. The second, and equally important, is the massive trust deficit that exists between politicians and their constituents.

Congress recently had a nine percent approval rating, and it’s easy to see why. Politicians manufacture crisis after crisis in order to score political points by blaming the other side for refusing to work together. It’s a broken record that we’ve heard time and again.

This is what happens when you have professional politicians who are addicted to the Washington lifestyle and afraid to take a tough vote, lose their positions of power, and be forced to get a real job. This is why you frequently hear me talk about the need for citizen representatives.

If we’re going to get our nation’s fiscal house in order and restore the public’s faith in our institutions, we need a new generation of leadership and we need representatives who haven’t served as lobbyists or elected officials for decades.

Ben Pollock, Congressional Candidate

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Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Generation Y, Great Recession, Medicaid, Oregon, Patty Murray, Paul Ryan, United States, Wall Street, Washington

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