EDITORIAL: Taxpayers need a chief financial officer

Readers might consider themselves Republicans, Democrats or Independents, but all American taxpayers played a big role last week in paying to shore up mortgage giants and other large firms. Printing more money or borrowing more money to pay for these moves diminishes the country’s credit rating or transfers wealth to other countries willing to borrow money to the U.S.

Government intervention might have been necessary last week, but these disturbing developments tell us it is time to reform government. Taxpayers need a chief financial officer working for them and reporting directly to them, not to the president, Congress or Wall Street.

It is too bad the current presidential candidates don’t offer the kind of economic savvy and creativity we really need. But, they are politicians trying to get your vote. For decades, they’ve promised more programs or fewer taxes to buy votes.

The problem with more costly programs or less taxes are the same. If implemented, each compounds the problem.

Americans want accountability
The Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan think tank, released a new study yesterday that reveals that taxpayers “are willing to make sacrifices — in the form of spending cuts and tax increases — to address the federal fiscal imbalances, yet would do so only if they see greater government accountability.”

The problem is mistrust. The Concord Coalition along with Public Agenda, the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation spent two years asking taxpayers questions. It found, “in dialogue after dialogue across the country … the main obstacle to building public support for difficult choices we face is not public opposition to tax increases or program cuts, nor is it lack of interest. The main obstacle is a deeply felt and pervasive mistrust of government.”

We agree. Taxpayers need an ombudsman giving quarterly reports or scorecards of how our government is performing. Taxpayers need a nonpartisan truth squad. Taxpayers need Congress and president not to pass laws in the middle of the night that add new expensive programs or reduce taxes that pile more debt payments on the future. And when they do such things, the taxpayers’ CFO should issue press releases and appear on nightly news programs to inform the public.

Politicians must learn
It was ironic to hear last week Washington politicians calling for reform of Wall Street. It is like french fries telling cheeseburgers they are high in fat content.

Washington politicians could learn a little from Minnesota. It might be ugly at times, but the land of 10,000 lakes balances its budget every year. We trust lawmakers to do so because it is law.

Taxpayers told the Concord Coalition trust is a two-way street. They said:

• They want leaders to provide an honest, straightforward assessment of the challenges facing the nation. They are increasingly suspicious of easy answers, and are more aware of when they are being pandered to; such tactics reinforce mistrust.

• They do not expect leaders to provide all the answers — but they do expect leaders to give people the chance to wrestle with tough choices and citizens’ viewpoints seriously. And,

• They want to be challenged to play a role in problem solving. Being asked to consider hard choices is not a poison pill.

After years of bickering and out-of-control spending and tax cuts, politicians have a window of opportunity to come clean. We’ve seen an economic crisis on the horizon for years and watched a week of unbelievable government intervention into the financial markets. We need to add a taxpayers’ chief financial officer’s salary to the budget, because we cannot afford lies anymore.

Editorials are written by Publisher Matt McMillan and Editor Doug Hanneman. They can be reached at mcmillan@hutchinsonleader.com, or hanneman@hutchinsonleader.com.