In 2004, documentary film maker Errol Morris won an Oscar for the movie, “The Fog of War”… his filmed interview with former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, a man who played a major role in escalating the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War.
I’ve been thinking, lately, about the fog of local politics, and Morris’ film came to mind when considering a title for this editorial series.
I don’t recommend the film “The Fog of War” if you have a weak stomach, but it does manage to paint a picture of the monstrous cruelty possible during wartime, instigated by intelligent leaders sitting safely in their bureaucratic offices. If you haven’t seen the film, it’s available for viewing on ‘The Internet Archive’.
The film’s subtitle is “Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara.” Lesson #1 was to empathize with your enemy.
Near the beginning of the film, we are shown an excerpt from a CBS “Special Report” about Secretary McNamara, broadcast during his time as Secretary of Defense, in the 1960s.
A quote from the film:
“This is the Secretary of Defense of the United States, Robert McNamara. His department absorbs 10% of the national income of this country, and over half of every tax dollar. His job has been called the toughest in Washington, and McNamara is the most controversial figure that has ever held the job.
“Walter Lippmann calls him not only the best Secretary of Defense, but the first one who ever asserted civilian control over the military.
“His critics call him a con man. An IBM machine with legs. An arrogant dictator.”
During the war, Vietnam was the most heavily bombed country in history. More than 6.1 million tons of bombs were dropped, compared to 2.1 million tons in World War II. U.S. planes dumped 20 million gallons of herbicides, decimating 5 million acres of forest and 500,000 acres of farmland. Reportedly, about 3 million Vietnamese were killed during the war… including 2 million civilians.
To fund this war, the US Congress increased income taxes by about 10%.
But the road to higher taxes was convoluted, beginning with a gross underestimate of the cost of the war by Defense Secretary McNamara. The budget for fiscal year 1966-1967 had included $10 billion for the war. The final figure turned out to be $20 billion, an error of 100 per cent. A period of unpleasant ‘stagflation’ arrived shortly thereafter. Inflation, high unemployment, a listless economy, a massive international trade deficit.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between a con man, and “the best Secretary of Defense.”
We might ask ourselves… what if the federal government had actually asked the taxpayers how they felt about spending $20 billion fighting a war in Vietnam, killing millions of people, and putting the U.S. economy into a downward spiral?
Would the voters have proved smarter than Robert McNamara?
The economy of a small town, like say Pagosa Springs, is much less complicated than our national economy. We don’t need to manufacture 6.1 million tons of bombs, for example, and arrange to have them dropped on farmers. But we still need to consider how taxes — and tax increases — affect our community.
Lesson One might be to empathize with your opponents.
Two of our current Archuleta County commissioners — Ronnie Maez and Alvin Schaaf — are directly responsible for authorizing two new multi-million-dollar facilities without voter approval. In fact, these two facilities were built after the voters twice rejected the requested funding. The expansion of government facilities has put a strain on the County’s budget.
We can certainly empathize. All of us have probably put ourselves into uncomfortable financial situations, at some point in our lives.
The BOCC could use our help, so they are giving us a chance to increase our tax burden by $6.5 million in the first year… and likely more with each passing year. Forever.
By my calculations — with current inflation — this tax increase could total more than $90 million over the next ten years.
Here’s the ballot language that we’ll see on our November ballots:
Shall Archuleta County taxes be increased $6,525,000.00 annually (first full fiscal year dollar increase) beginning January 1, 2023, and by such amounts as are raised annually thereafter by increasing the County sales tax rate by one and a half percent (1.5%), (which represents a 1 and 1/2 cent increase on each one dollar purchase), with proceeds from such sales tax increase being divided fifty percent (50%) to Archuleta County and fifty percent (50%) to the Town of Pagosa Springs; and to be used by Archuleta County to improve the safety of roads, bridges and infrastructure in Archuleta County, to construct and maintain needed Archuleta County capital projects and improvements, and to cover the growing costs of providing existing and new services to the citizens of Archuleta County; and to be used by the town of Pagosa Springs to improve the safety of roads, bridges and infrastructure within the Town of Pagosa Springs, to construct and maintain needed Town of Pagosa Springs capital projects and improvements, and to cover the growing costs of providing existing and new services to the citizens of Pagosa Springs; and shall the revenues from such tax increase and any investment income earned from such revenue be collected and spent as a voter-approved revenue change under Section 20 of Article X of the Colorado Constitution; all in accordance with the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners’ Resolution 2022-98?
If you were willing and able to read that run-on sentence, you might wonder what the reference to “a voter-approved revenue change under Section 20 of Article X of the Colorado Constitution” might mean.
You might also wonder how much of this $6.5 million (in the first year) would come from the pockets of full-time residents, and how much will be paid by tourists?
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.