Government Spending

The Republican “Balanced Budget” Amendment Proposal: Preposterous As It Has Always Been!

Ronald Leave a comment

The Republican Party is again out on a tear promoting a so called “Balanced Budget Amendment” to solve the future problem of national debt!

This idea has been promoted on and off since the 1980s as a solution to the growing national debt! It is as preposterous an idea now as it has always been!

It puts the federal government in a “strait jacket”, unable to react to economic collapse or foreign war! Just as no family can be certain as to their expenses in any calendar year due to unforeseen circumstances, the government also cannot possibly know ahead of time what the total government expenses will be!

The proposed amendment is just an excuse to avoid the ultimate responsibility of government beyond defense of the nation: to deal with the nation’s basic needs, domestic and foreign, through TAXATION, every person’s basic commitment as a citizen to pay taxes as part of their patriotic duty!

And just remember that it was under Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush that the national debt multiplied, with SEVEN TRILLION out of the $10 Trillion national debt in 2008 being due to Reagan ($2 trillion) and Bush ($5 trillion)!

CNN Poll Shows Government Is “Broken”, But Can Be Fixed: What Is The Answer?

Ronald Leave a comment

A new CNN poll shows that 86 percent of those polled think the US government is “broken”, but 81 percent think it can be fixed if we can get cooperation of both political parties in Congress.

Of course, that seems unlikely, because the reality is the only way to deal with the horrible growing deficits that threaten our economic stability, is to do two things–raise taxes and cut spending!

Neither one alone can work! We have been avoiding the reality that when we have had constant tax cuts under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, we were just delaying the ultimate reality, which is that we must pay for the government services we want and need! There is no free ride!

But we also need government spending cuts on a bipartisan basis, but not just by itself, as that is an impossibility to deal with this crisis!

The future is likely a national sales tax or value added tax as an alternative, as many nations in the world already have. It is a very unpleasant reality, but it is ultimately unavoidable. It has been totally irresponsible for Congress and the Presidents over the past thirty years to act as if they they can spend on everything the people need or want, and what we need for our defense, and somehow evade paying for it.

But with longevity growing in this country, another reform of social security for future recipients, starting at a substantially later age, is essential. And Medicare and Medicaid, sadly, will also have to be reformed, as it is eating up such a large portion of spending.

Additionally, we are going to have to decide that we cannot be the world’s policeman to the same extent we are now, as we simply are going bankrupt with defense spending. We need to protect our nation, but there has to be a cheaper way to do so, with other nations not expecting that our budget will supply their defense everywhere in the world!

Tough choices have to be made, and the sooner the better for the future of our children and grandchildren!

The Hypocrisy About “Excessive” Government Spending

Ronald Leave a comment

Everyone rails against “unnecessary” and “excessive” government spending, including Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, and also the Tea Party and Freedom Works protest groups.

But dare to cut any particular state or district’s favorite programs or “earmarks”, and suddenly governors, senators, congressmen, and ordinary citizens bitterly complain!

Don’t cut the space program in Florida! Don’t diminish agricultural subsidies in Iowa! Don’t look for cost savings on military spending in Texas! Don’t dare to suggest that there must be long range cuts in entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare! Don’t force a state or city into a crisis on crime prevention or education or health services! In other words, DON’T CUT anything except other programs elsewhere! 🙂

It is certainly obvious that this is the major problem in the budget process–that no one wants their programs or services cut, only others, and that goes around all fifty states and all members of Congress and all governors!

So we hear over and over again that we must cut spending, and yet there is no way to do so, without antagonizing and alienating different interest groups and voters and political leaders!

So the never ending problem: Government spending must be cut, but yet it cannot be in a reasonable way. Therefore, there is an hypocrisy about “excessive” government spending, and it not limited to just one group, but ALL groups and both political parties! 🙁