Everyone knows that it increased under Bush. We're not here to argue that point. Republicans try to justify it as necessary because of 9-11 and the fact that we were and are continuing to fight wars on two fronts. Democrats campaigned that spending was out of control in the last election and their plan to combat the spending is to spend EVEN MORE.
It's as if not one elected representative in Washington would stand up for common sense. These individuals who we choose lose their damn minds when they arrive in the capital. Yes, some Republicans are just as guilty, but the last bill
The national debt grew by almost $5 trillion under Bush. In 18 months under Obama, it has grown $2.3 trillion thanks to the stimulus bill and other pork-ridden bills which show that the ruling party has no interest in getting spending under control.
The ones that vote to spend beyond the means, get them the hell out. Don't even let them on the ballot unless they know that we have to operate on a balanced budget.
Let's face it... it's OUR fault for putting these ass clowns in Washington in the first place. We should, and as Americans we always do, bear the brunt of our elected officials' mistakes.
Paying Down the National Debt
I'm a common sense guy. I'm a patriotic guy. Most people probably are, I think. So why can't we combine those two things to pay down this debt?
Every family has to file a tax return, right? Right. No matter what, it has to be filed. People either owe taxes, or they are owed a refund.
Here's where common sense comes in. For six years, each household pays $10 per person in that household. There's no getting around it, and there's no loophole. If you owe money, when you write the check to pay your income taxes, you just write another check. If you are owed a refund, you have them deduct that amount.
The first year, the government would take in $3 billion. I did my math in a vacuum. I assumed a static population, call it "one in, one out." I also didn't account for inflation, interest or population increases. Perhaps most importantly, and most improbably, I assumed Obama wouldn't spend any more than he already has. (It's estimated he'll add another $4 trillion to the National Debt by the end of his first term.)
By my calculations, it would take 4300 years to pay down the National Debt.
That's doable. Right?
The Reason for This Rant on How to Pay Down the National Debt
I wrote this with the goal of discovering just how much debt the U.S. is in, how much each person owes ($42,000 and change) and what an impossible situation our government perpetuates. Unless our country gets a grip on spending, we've got no chance of paying down this debt.
What I learned:
- Spending our way out of debt is a stupid, stupid idea
- Anyone who has voted to spend more money shouldn't be in office
- We the people need to pay more attention to what our representatives do in Washington
- The U.S. needs a balanced budget amendment
- $13 trillion is a lot
- We can't pay it
I think point #3 is where the rubber meets the road. We elect these idiots and do so, at least I think most of the time, based on what they say when they campaign. Now, what we fail to remember is the old joke...how do you know if a politician is lying? His mouth is moving. My point...people need to pay attention and educate themselves - about the issues, the problems and the candidates - not just rely on 30-second bashing sound-bytes taken as gospel by the masses who are too lazy to open a newspaper, read a book or God forbid, actually read a news story online versus play Facebook Farmville.
ReplyDeleteI'd bet money that the kids leaving my 8th grade U.S. history class know far more about our American government than the average "man on the street." And that's pathetic. I'm just sayin....
I don't think anyone suggests the stimulus and bailout bills were designed to get us out of debt. They were intended to avert an economic collapse. I don't pretend to know how much they helped or didn't help. I do know that my common sense meter suggests that borrowing and spending beyond the government's means wouldn't be the wisest way to fend off a recession caused by...people and businesses borrowing and spending beyond their means. It would be like eating donuts to lose weight.
ReplyDeleteAt its root, the government budget is just like a personal budget: to get into black numbers instead of red, you must take in more than you spend. The only way we are going to make a dent in the debt is by simultaneously (gulp) raising taxes and cutting spending. It would be political suicide, so only a second-term president with a wild streak would dare propose it. I don't know how it would pass the House OR Senate, because every one of those jackasses wants to stay in office and they know a "yes" vote would mean they'd be voted out.
The question is, when do we take our medicine? Unless I'm missing something, we can't just keep putting it off.