I’m sick of politicians who are more worried about votes, Republican or Democrat, than actually doing what needs to be done. Sick of these fools buying votes with Federal programs for everything from farm subsidies to gelatin wrestling.
When someone runs for office, does an idiot switch get flipped? “Vote for me, I’ll spend like there’s no tomorrow. Cause look, honey, I got this magical piece of Uncle Sam plastic. It doesn’t cost anything. And when the bill comes, we’ll just tax all the rich folks to pay for it, and send government agents to put them in jail if they don’t. Or we’ll print money and make it all worth nothing. Or, better yet, we’ll just use the funds we set aside for social security. It would be dumb to just save and invest that money we’re taking from people for their retirements. I mean, it’s just sitting there earning interest. Besides, we’ll set it all up like Amway with downlines and circles, and the rising generation will just be taxed out of their brains to pay for it. And that will be someone else’s problem anyway. See the pretty money, honey. See it? Vote for me.”
They’re like that candy man in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with the nose that should have scared the soup out of those kids. Of course, American voters aren’t kids hiding in Benny Hill’s basement. Maybe the switch is getting flipped on some of us as well.
Here’s what we need. It’s not rocket science.
1. A balanced budget ammendment to prevent our super smart and caring representatives in Washington from continually spending what they don’t have.
2. Real spending reductions. What does that mean? Dave Ramsey just shared some thoughts on what’s it’s going to take to get the nation out of debt. Go have a listen.
Edit 6/7/11: Besides, Paul Ryan, here’s Tim Pawlenty with some ideas on how to accomplish it. I’m looking forward to seeing the ideas Romney and the other presidential candidates put forth.
John, I agree with you. I’m one of those people who’s going to be taxed heavily to pay for all these wasteful spending projects. To make matters worse, I live in Rhode Island, who has major spending problems of its own. So both my Federal and State taxes are going to be jacked up and it’s going to put a long term burden on my family.
Dave Ramsey is a real bright guy. We all need to have some common sense about how we spend. I’m not saying we should stop funding all science programs but I think we can let private money take over more of the outlandish projects.
Someone needs to step up and clean house.
Another voice of agreement here. I happen to be following the Dave Ramsey plan right now myself. There’s definitely some discomfort in our family these days. It would be hard for an entire nation to go through that much difficulty, but there’s no getting around it.
I am no economist in any shape or form but I do find far to much “Less Spending Talk” to be going around. Frankly I never listen to it. For me it comes down to specific cuts(Don’t tell me we need to spend less tell me what we need to spend less on and why) and Raising taxes ON Everyone!! If you have a debt you pay it as quickly as possible. Sure it hurts the wallet but that’s what spending money does. I agree in general With everything that I heard at your link but its pointless and just more of the same crap everyone else is saying with an added dash of practicality.
But I find the thought of not raising taxes when a country needs money plain stupid so I guess I’m in the minority and really dont fit in with either political party.
-Rehcra
Rehcra,
It’s true, asking for less spending still doesn’t give you an action plan. But it does set the bar. And when you have politicians who won’t even take that first step, it’s a sign of a large problem. I think the only thing we have right now that gets into specifics is the Paul Ryan proposal.
As for taxes, they act like prices. For example, you can charge a LOT for a car, 200,000, sell only a few of them, and try to increase total revenues that way. Or you can charge 4,000 for a car, sell millions more, and try to increase total revenue that way. Higher taxes for everyone may result in more revenue, or it may lag the economy and make for less revenue.
However, I do think more people need a clear stake. Instead of super loading the rich, I think everyone but those under the poverty line should be contributing. And in a CLEAR way so everyone knows just how much Uncle Sam is taking.
Well said. A balanced budget amendment is long overdue. It wouldn’t solve everything, but it would stop the bleeding which is the first step in any triage.
I truly believe that beyond that we need real entitlement reform. Relying on Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid as they are now is a lot like riding a train along a rail, knowing eventually it ends abruptly over a ravine. They need to be restructured so they aren’t pyramid schemes. If we are going to have people paying into them, they should be able to have some confidence that someday there will be a return on their investment.
I also don’t think that it would be completely out of line to ask for a little community service in return for receiving entitlements. If Wal-Mart can find jobs for all sorts of people with all sorts of disabilities, couldn’t the government find some things for people living off entitlements to do? Maybe things like spending time with the elderly, or being a crossing guard, or reading to kids? Everyone needs a little help sometimes, but giving back should be something that we encourage and promote as a society.
That’s an interesting idea, although Social Security was actually taken from their paychecks. So technically, it was theirs to begin with. I know, I know, there’s monkey business with the payments. Still the idea was that they pay into the system when they’re working so they can take it out when they’re not. But the government’s screwed that up.
Same with unemployment. A woman came to visit some friends of ours for a number of weeks last summer. This gal has no children. Is capable of finding work. But refuses to. Just goes through the motions to get her welfare check, which she has drawn for years. That’s just not right. Her reason for voting for Obama–he’d keep her checks coming.