“There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by sword, the other is by debt.” ~ John Adams
“I go on the principle that a public debt is a public curse, and in a Republican Government a greater curse than any other” ~ James Madison
We will certainly continue to have disagreements among us on the plethora of social issues that affect the individual, our communities, and the nation on whole, be that between parties or within one’s own. However, one thing that we certainly should be able to come to some consensus on is the enormous debt problem our generation faces and how to take sensible action NOW, so as not to unload the burden of future generations. Our president says we need to stop funding programs that don’t work, but his inaction speaks louder than his rhetoric; for if he was honest in making such proclamations, there would be multitudes of cuts throughout damn near EVERY government program!
The fact is Democrats are refusing to make any meaningful cuts. Rather they choose to vilify Republicans for modest cuts at best (we’ll get to that in a minute), and, as Jonah Goldberg explains, by simply decreasing the level of spending, Democrats qualify this as “indefensible slashing”:
Now the GOP wants to cut $61 billion of discretionary non-defense spending from the total budget of $3.7 trillion, and Democrats are responding as if this will spell the end of Western civilization.
We owe $14 trillion we don’t have. Our total liabilities — i.e., Social Security and other entitlements — dwarf that. Obviously, we can’t just cut discretionary spending alone. But if it’s this hard to ask rough-rider poets to cowboy up, how are we going to deal with what everyone agrees is the much harder stuff?
Earlier in the week, financial guru and PIMCO founder Bill Gross, released a startling statement that there is “no way out” of our debt trap and that our standard of living will be guaranteed to fall. Now, while Gross would disagree with me that at our current rate of deficit spending, there is no such thing as ‘too much’ in cuts, we could definitely reach agreement in his assessment of the choices we face: either keep spending and do nothing, which spells absolute doom; or balance our budget by cutting entitlements (that’s the part where I’d also add ‘and wasteful federal spending’, which does include entitlements, so we’re not in that huge of disagreement). Gross has so little faith that the powers that be will do anything to correct the situation, that he took action the next day after speaking of this, and unloaded all U.S. government-related holdings from the world’s biggest bond fund!
Krauthammer joins Gross in targeting entitlements, specifically illuminating the administration’s fraud that there is no problem with Social Security and how his demagoguery on the matter will lead his reelection bid:
Everyone knows that the U.S. budget is being devoured by entitlements. Everyone also knows that of the Big Three — Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security — Social Security is the most solvable.
[Yet] The new line from the White House is: no need to fix it because there is no problem. As Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Jack Lew wrote in USA Today just a few weeks ago, the trust fund is solvent until 2037. Therefore, Social Security is now off the table in debt-reduction talks.
With Lew’s preposterous claim that Social Security is solvent for 26 years, Obama is preparing to lead the charge against entitlement reform as his ticket to reelection.
Also picking up on Gross’s second (and really, ‘only’) option, efforts continue to be made in pursuit of balancing the budget. Tuesday on the Senate floor, Jim DeMint expressed that America is “on its knees” due to our continuous deficits and overall debt, pointing out that the proposed cuts from both sides are not enough:
DeMint mentioned the rejection of a balanced budget amendment proposal…it was just shy of 3 votes. “This is about the survival of America!” For this reason, even DeMint, along with Mike Lee and Rand Paul, voted AGAINST the mere $61B in cuts proposed and passed by House Republicans on the basis of principle. It’s simply not enough! Why so many in Washington can’t come to grips with this rationale is the precise problem with the Establishment, particularly the leadership of both parties.
And let’s speak of our Republican leadership in the House (again): Boehner, Cantor and McCarthy have seemingly dropped the ball on 2 promises in their ‘Pledge’ made prior to November’s midterm elections: if they can’t repeal Obamacare, then they’ll defund it, and that they’ll pursue overall spending cuts (I believe they quoted “$100B” in the Pledge). While the leadership shows reluctance to follow through, for fear of a Democrat-led shutdown (explain that ‘fear factor’?), we have a couple of courageous statesmen in the House, Michele Bachmann and Steve King, who are attempting to rally their colleagues, despite the disparagement. They have drafted a letter to the leadership requesting that language is added to the next Continuing Resolution to defund the recently discovered $105B which Pelosi and Democrats snuck into the Obamacare legislation for implementation; otherwise they pledge to vote NO on the next CR. And the excuses that it’s ‘mandatory’ per the ‘rules’ hold no merit, particularly when the Republicans CONTROL the House Rules Committee! Republicans can change these rules just as Pelosi did to shoehorn (or ‘hide’ rather) these appropriations into that beast. Call your Representatives today and throughout next week to implore them to sign on with King and Bachmann!
On top of that battle, we find additional encouragement from two of Florida's conservative congressmen. They’re ready to put the brakes on over-spending in yet another way by saying NO to raising the debt ceiling. “Why have a debt ceiling, if all you’re going to do when you approach it is raise it?” EXACTLY!
“We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debt, as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our calling and our creeds...[we will] have no time to think, no means of calling our miss-managers to account but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers... And this is the tendency of all human governments. A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for [another]... till the bulk of society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery... And the fore-horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
ADDENDUM: Thought this exchange was fitting for the topic!
Love this guy's laugh!
