For almost 40 years, the U.
S.
government has been recklessly spending and now we are beginning to see the ramifications of such irresponsible fiscal behavior.
Unless America's government controls its unending appetite for more government and its inevitable profligate spending, the American economy will continue to sputter along.
Who is to blame for this fiscal mess? Some will say somewhat correctly that it started with President Ronald Reagan but that is only partially true.
When President Reagan enacted his budget deal of 1981, complete with tax cuts and deep cuts in government spending, the U.
S.
economy was still teetering due to the "malaise days" of Jimmy Carter's presidency and fiscal policies.
Reagan cut the capital gains tax rate, income taxes and corporate taxes.
The result? In a few years, the economy surged.
With the U.
S.
treasury becoming more flushed with money due to Reagan's policies, Democrats went on a spending spree and that is the genesis of our current national debt.
For those who doubt this, do your own research and you will see for yourself.
Consider this before you start your research: the U.
S.
Constitution clearly says that the executive branch (the president) proposes a budget but it is the legislative branch (Congress) that disposes or spends the money.
Liberal Democrats believe in ever-growing spending and government programs as the panacea of America's problems and that belief under girds every policy goal.
From a purely practical standpoint, such an avenue can't be sustained anymore.
Continuing, after Reagan left office, George H.
W.
Bush continued the profligate spending of a liberal Congress.
If Bush or Reagan had held fast against the Congress, they would've been able to stop the ever increasing excessive spending, but they did not.
Once President Clinton assumed office, he was the beneficiary of the Internet and technological boom in the 90's and this fueled prosperity.
Along with a fiscally conservative Congress in his last six years of office, this combination allowed for budget surpluses, which Clinton used to help pay down the debt.
Perhaps former President Clinton's most sagacious move was to realize he could not continue to govern as a liberal Democrat with the loss of Democrats' control of Congress in 1994 to the Republicans but that he needed to be more "moderate" in his political and policy agenda.
Who is To Blame? With the exception of the Republican Congress from Jan.
1995 to Jan.
2001 and Pres.
Clinton, every Congress and president is to blame for the unending spending of the federal government.
Clinton, with a fiscal conservative Congress, actually paid down the national debt.
When George W.
Bush ascended to the presidency, the national debt was 4.
2 trillion.
It is now a staggering 12+ trillion and growing.
Now that Pres.
Obama has taken over the reins of the presidency, and with a very liberal Congress led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the profligate spending under the inept George W.
Bush is now beginning to look frugal by comparison.
So, who's really to blame? The answer is not who is to blame but what: the liberalism ideology that America has allowed itself to be infected by is to blame.
More and more and more government is not the answer.
Frugal, wise spending is the answer.
To be brief, here's what can be done to get the economy moving again.
While this recommended may be simple, it is effective and powerful.
Here is what I would recommend:
There must be a surplus every year with that surplus applied toward the national debt.
This should be government's role from this point forward -- even if the national debt is amortized.
The government needs to save, build a surplus and become leaner.
Many in Congress, past and present, consider themselves the "Best and Brightest.
" Every president and undoubtedly every Congress person has respectable academic credentials, many from the best schools in the country.
Many have tremendous business accomplishments as well.
Clearly, talent, past achievement, ability, or educational capability is not the key.
What Congress (and many past presidents) have lacked so abundantly is wisdom and understanding of basic, fundamental financial principles like: spend less money than you have coming in, avoid debt, save, and learn how to distinguish between needs and wants.
Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "Taxes are the price we pay to live in a civilized society.
" However, when you have a government that can't control its spending, those taxes quickly evolve to include an ever-burdening government, and that is what is happening now.
Unless government gets control of its unending appetite for more spending, and unless the virus of liberalism is surgically removed from the American body, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave will have seen its best days behind it.
S.
government has been recklessly spending and now we are beginning to see the ramifications of such irresponsible fiscal behavior.
Unless America's government controls its unending appetite for more government and its inevitable profligate spending, the American economy will continue to sputter along.
Who is to blame for this fiscal mess? Some will say somewhat correctly that it started with President Ronald Reagan but that is only partially true.
When President Reagan enacted his budget deal of 1981, complete with tax cuts and deep cuts in government spending, the U.
S.
economy was still teetering due to the "malaise days" of Jimmy Carter's presidency and fiscal policies.
Reagan cut the capital gains tax rate, income taxes and corporate taxes.
The result? In a few years, the economy surged.
With the U.
S.
treasury becoming more flushed with money due to Reagan's policies, Democrats went on a spending spree and that is the genesis of our current national debt.
For those who doubt this, do your own research and you will see for yourself.
Consider this before you start your research: the U.
S.
Constitution clearly says that the executive branch (the president) proposes a budget but it is the legislative branch (Congress) that disposes or spends the money.
Liberal Democrats believe in ever-growing spending and government programs as the panacea of America's problems and that belief under girds every policy goal.
From a purely practical standpoint, such an avenue can't be sustained anymore.
Continuing, after Reagan left office, George H.
W.
Bush continued the profligate spending of a liberal Congress.
If Bush or Reagan had held fast against the Congress, they would've been able to stop the ever increasing excessive spending, but they did not.
Once President Clinton assumed office, he was the beneficiary of the Internet and technological boom in the 90's and this fueled prosperity.
Along with a fiscally conservative Congress in his last six years of office, this combination allowed for budget surpluses, which Clinton used to help pay down the debt.
Perhaps former President Clinton's most sagacious move was to realize he could not continue to govern as a liberal Democrat with the loss of Democrats' control of Congress in 1994 to the Republicans but that he needed to be more "moderate" in his political and policy agenda.
Who is To Blame? With the exception of the Republican Congress from Jan.
1995 to Jan.
2001 and Pres.
Clinton, every Congress and president is to blame for the unending spending of the federal government.
Clinton, with a fiscal conservative Congress, actually paid down the national debt.
When George W.
Bush ascended to the presidency, the national debt was 4.
2 trillion.
It is now a staggering 12+ trillion and growing.
Now that Pres.
Obama has taken over the reins of the presidency, and with a very liberal Congress led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the profligate spending under the inept George W.
Bush is now beginning to look frugal by comparison.
So, who's really to blame? The answer is not who is to blame but what: the liberalism ideology that America has allowed itself to be infected by is to blame.
More and more and more government is not the answer.
Frugal, wise spending is the answer.
To be brief, here's what can be done to get the economy moving again.
While this recommended may be simple, it is effective and powerful.
Here is what I would recommend:
- Cut, gut, slash, eviscerate and disembowel the federal budget.
Cut every program, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the defense spending, by a minimum of 25%. - End departments and programs.
- Cut the capital gains tax to 0%.
This will spur economic, entrepreneurial investment. - Cut federal tax rates for corporations and small businesses and independent contractors.
- Take every savings and use it to pay down the national debt.
There must be a surplus every year with that surplus applied toward the national debt.
This should be government's role from this point forward -- even if the national debt is amortized.
The government needs to save, build a surplus and become leaner.
Many in Congress, past and present, consider themselves the "Best and Brightest.
" Every president and undoubtedly every Congress person has respectable academic credentials, many from the best schools in the country.
Many have tremendous business accomplishments as well.
Clearly, talent, past achievement, ability, or educational capability is not the key.
What Congress (and many past presidents) have lacked so abundantly is wisdom and understanding of basic, fundamental financial principles like: spend less money than you have coming in, avoid debt, save, and learn how to distinguish between needs and wants.
Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "Taxes are the price we pay to live in a civilized society.
" However, when you have a government that can't control its spending, those taxes quickly evolve to include an ever-burdening government, and that is what is happening now.
Unless government gets control of its unending appetite for more spending, and unless the virus of liberalism is surgically removed from the American body, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave will have seen its best days behind it.
Source...