Best solution for malaise? You

KENNETT, Mo. -- As state officials in Jefferson City work feverishly to arrange and/or rearrange a deficit-proof budget for the coming year, more and more Missourians are evidencing their concern for what appears to be anything but full state support of essential public programs. Distractions caused by declining tax revenue and a growing number of programs that have become essential to hundreds and thousands of our fellow citizens have become troubling symbols of a state government in crisis that cannot fulfill its obligations to deserving, needy and innocent individuals and families throughout Missouri.

It is not a pretty picture, nor one that is likely to improve under existing conditions in Jefferson City.

Out of this funding crisis and its broken promises to Missourians comes the eternal question: Why? Shocked citizens from virtually every walk of life in our state are troubled as they survey the barren fields already predicted by leaders of both parties, budget officials and loud, nosy reporters. What happened to the picnic and why didn't someone notice the clouds from both directions of the country that have spoiled the prospect of a better quality of life for many Missourians, particularly those in great need of assistance?

Whatever conclusions are reached in various quarters of the state, this much seems to resonate with most of them: Missouri has become the victim of a national economy that, while still missing the designation of recession, is increasingly less productive and thus less rewarding than previously, and this condition is the result of numerous events ranging from the aftermath of Sept. 11 to the growing balkanization that separates the world's "have" and "have-not" sections. While the United States, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan and a handful of other countries have enjoyed the rewards of expanding trade and prosperity, much of the rest of the world has remained lodged between growing populations and inadequate domestic product returns. The world's fastest-growing population, the poor and destitute, has grown at an incrementally rapid rate, one that has served to give a new meaning to population explosion around the globe.

Here in America, the shocking terrorist attacks on U.S. soil triggered a negative reaction in areas that might not have been discovered for years or never discovered at all. The crisis triggered by the Twin Tower attacks was felt by many times the number directly harmed, with the end result being a growing lack of confidence in previously unimpeachable financial quarters, hence the loss of consumer confidence in such earlier heady corporate successes as Enron, WorldCom and virtually all of the nation's transport complex, ranging from resorts to airlines. We discovered, if we did not already know, that a discouraged, sometimes frightened consumer base will weaken, even collapse, under adverse conditions.

Americans also began realizing, as distracting terrorism became more than a passing shadow of doubt, that whatever confidence we had once placed in governments at both the federal and state levels could be misplaced, even totally lost, particularly if there were no quick resolutions and especially if the American economic dream had the capacity to transmute into a financial nightmare. What we essentially realized was quite simple and even seemed realistic: Hey, this could happen to me, too.

What is difficult, at least for this writer, is how to determine the more recent effects on how we go about repairing injured lives. Warnings that many of the services provided by Washington and Jefferson City would soon be affected were hardly reassuring, particularly for those who rely on state support to provide the basic needs for single-adult families, the medically indigent, the hapless throw-away workers of huge companies capable of downsizing their workforce by thousands in the blink of a day's eye, the mentally ill and retarded whose future is threatened by the diminishment of even a single state-supported service.

Last November's voters did little to change the basic direction of either federal or state government, and while it should be noted that Republicans took a firmer control over both Washington and Jefferson City, it should also be obvious that the basic philosophies of both jurisdictions were hardly affected. There is no Reagan Revolution headed for Washington, and there is no sign that conservative Democratic control of the legislature will be radically changed by switching party affiliation of its presiding officers. As for the constitutional safeguards on the state's executive officers, there can be little difference between a closely regulated governor who is either a Republican or a Democrat; the restrictions are the same, and there are few instances in state history to suggest this will be changed even by a frightened, disgusted or harassed chief executive.

If one wishes to paint the darkest picture possible, then the outcome is all but ordained: essential services for the poor and critically ill, desired improvements in both local and higher education, greater opportunities for children, families and the gifted, all could be reduced or eliminated entirely. Somehow I find it hard to believe a majority of us are willing to accept these consequences, particularly since there is an absence of electoral decision-making and since -- and I believe this with all my heart -- the average Missourian, even if sometimes disappointingly indifferent, really does care about the effectiveness of his or her government and is willing to support programs that are designed to make a difference in the lives of countless men, women and children.

I believe this is the kind of citizen our Founding Fathers had in mind when they gathered in Philadelphia 215 years ago to write America's Constitution.

Jack Stapleton is the editor of Missouri News & Editorial Service.