The government has a spending problem.
It maybe a worse problem than Brittney Spears on a spending spree after a divorce. I’ve heard those black American Express cards require $100,000 per month in charges to keep it active. I’d last 14 days, but I digress. So what do we need to do?
First, get the spending under control. While I am all for helping out beneficial research and development, and helping out unfortunate Americans, it seems any laws going to the desks of our leaders is not simply for one thing. This leads to a veto and one party criticizing the other for trying to hurt America.
Seriously? If you want to help, stop attaching the pork and work together to curtail spending.
Now, back to the debt. The second thing we have to do is increase taxes. Yes, I said it. But, we DO NOT do it right now. We do it when we can afford it. We have to pay down the debt. We all caused it, that is, all of us who are voters. Take the blame and move on.
Hopefully, a one or two percent tax hike will not hurt much. Heck, Wisconsin government workers got hit with a 5.8 percent tax and those people are still with us. Okay, call that 5.8 percent what you want, but if it comes out of your paycheck, that’s a tax. Please don’t tell me how they should be paying for their retirement, everyone I’ve talked to agrees with you and if you write in about teachers, I’ll address that later.
Now, we have cut spending and increased taxes during good times, what’s left? Drumroll please… How about we save. I know, us Americans are saving. We save in case we loose our job, need to buy a new car, have a sick child, buy a house, etc. We save so we can afford for our future, or combat financial stress due to an unfortunate event. Why doesn’t the government do that? (The only government I’ve heard of doing that is in Virginia. They have a savings and are in a position to combat future recessions in their state.)
If the government could save money, what would you say? I can hear it now. Why are our taxes so high when the government has excess money? I want my money back. These same people want the government to help them if they run into financial troubles. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, if you are in trouble, you hope the government bails you out. We are $15 trillion in debt and yet are numb to that number.
Why? How much is that? We can’t envision that. We have seen a million dollars on the final table of the World Poker Tour, but that’s it. Here’s something to chew on, if we spent $1 million a day since the birth of Christ, we would be around $790 billion in debt. That’s right, not even a trillion, and we are talking $15 trillion in debt! Like it or not, we need to face the problem we all have caused, and that will be all Americans need to sacrifice.
In the future, let’s start a government savings program to pay for our next recession. Like it or not, there will be one and that you can bank on.
I forgot who won the last election but I don't see a white guy in the white house anymore. Maybe the new guy could control the spending. Oh wait.... give him a call see if he's on board.
As for spending during a recession, only an idiot would cut government spending during a recession. It's the best way to create a depression. Several European countries are trying the "austerity" approach. In the year and a half since the UK instituted austerity measures, there GDP has gone from slow growth to flat line. Spain, another "austerity" country, is clearly heading for a double-dip. I'd much rather see the government invest in projects that must get done, directly creating economic activity, than wait around for the ultra-rich to start trickling on us.
Investing money we don't have is what started the whole problem to begin with. Time to slash expences and keep the US from defaulting. With Europe, their social programs are the last straw to break the camel's back.
With all that said, why do you think people aren't so upset with the fact our legislators only work 105 days a year and receive full benefits after one term? I'm surprised we haven't heard about that yet.
Many of the Falls teachers went to Alberta's office and held a protest- on their own time. That earned some respect from people on both sides. We may not agree politically, but that doesn't mean I have contempt for you or your profession. I am very fortunate I can say my child is a former student of yours.
Typical yearly single digit inflation of around 3% won't get you near that $400 per week increace so yes you'd better start saving now! Tax the rich? Better ask yourselves why people like multi millionaire Obama can avoid paying their fair share too. He is the rich, he is the wealthy. He and his millionaire buddies are the ones writing the tax loop holes and laughing all the way to a Chicago bank "SHORE BANK" ( http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/shorebank.php ). You Democrats bought a junk bond - Obama. Your so scared of being called a racist if you disagree with Obama's Chicago politics that people all over the internet can hear your knees knocking. You've been hung you out to dry via political correctness and desperately codependant now on your friends for your approval.