What's the point?

It's not so much a depressing title as a real question: what's the point? We hear a lot about cutting the deficit, and we should cut the deficit, but why? What's the point? Isn't the role of government to help people? "That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men."

So governments, our founders tell us, are to secure our rights, so when the government does something - goes to war, raises or lowers taxes, passes a healthcare law, or cuts the deficit - it's to secure our rights and help us. We - Americans - are the point.

With that in mind, I've been doing some pondering on the deficit situation. It's true that we need to cut into the deficit, spending cuts are in order, and in previous posts I've outlined some concrete ideas for cuts. But if the point of the government is to help us, and quite a bit of the money the government is spending is on us, then how much cutting can we do without hurting ourselves?

Which brings me to a bittersweet bit of news, critics of Arizona governor Jan Brewer are gathering signatures to force a recall vote. This is sweet because Jan Brewer is best known for being the xenophobe who thought she could fix her state's problems by expelling Mexican immigrants; it's bitter because Jan Brewer was so wrong about Arizona's problems that on top of deportation, she's had to make massive cuts to Medicaid; one in five Arizonans will lose their coverage.

So if the point of the government is to look after us, and in doing so, governor Brewer is taking the axe to the coverage of her constituents, what good is governor Brewer? Furthermore, what is the point of all her cuts? If Arizona saves money but Arizonans die, is that meeting Jan Brewer's definition of progress? It certainly doesn't meet mine. And apparently, according to recent polling, it doesn't meet most Americans' definition of moving the right direction. Deficits need to be reduced, but not at the cost of American lives.

So if we are the point, maybe it's time we elect people who will prioritize us. People who will make informed decisions about how to reduce the deficit without putting Americans at risk. We can't talk about the greatness of America without talking about the people who make us great, Americans. And when we start to value America the ideal more than Americans the people, we make political mistakes that hurt us, and when we hurt ourselves, we hurt the ideal.

The way to make America better is to value Americans. Maybe Jan Brewer should keep that in mind when she has to choose between a healthy budget and a healthy electorate.