Regardless of who wins the upcoming Presidential election, there are hard decisions to be made to avoid a financial disaster in our country. Federal spending is out of control with no apparent end in site. At the time of this posting the Federal debt exceeds $16 Trillion. That's:
In past posts I have put this kind of debt in perspective (and that was in 2011 when the debt was only $14 Trillion)...I have shown that it is not a revenue problem, but a spending problem. Raising taxes can't fix it, because you could tax corporations and everyone who is considered rich at 100% and still not have enough money to feed the government's spending habit.
Though everyone knows that we have an unsustainable debt problem...that our deficits continue to grow, government continues to expand programs...and therefore spending. Not only that, but the government has been actively advertising and recruiting to get more people on the roles of programs like food stamps. Today the Washington Times reported that "Overall, welfare spending as measured by obligations has grown from $563 billion in fiscal 2008 to $746 billion in fiscal 2011, or a jump of 32 percent." While welfare programs were cut during the Clinton administration, the Obama administration has been redoubling their efforts to increase this spending.
We are headed in the wrong direction. I agree with then candidate Obama when he said of the much smaller debt under Bush, "That's irresponsible. It's unpatriotic." We must first stop the bleeding, and then begin to return to fiscal responsibility and prudence. This can only happen through a return to the principles of limited and decentralized government. Come on folks, let's get patriotic again.
Professor Antony Davies has another great video on the issue:
