We the Bankrupt

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has just released a report showing that the federal budget deficit will grow by an additional $246 billion this year to $407 BILLION.

To put that in perspective this means that in addition to the $2.5 TRILLION in Federal tax revenues in 2007, we have loans we must pay back to the tune of $407 BILLION.

This does not include any additions to spending for the new Feddie Mae and Feddie Mac take over. Nor do I think it adequately considers the additional expense to our borrowing costs that will result from the deterioration in our countries credit rating (real as “rated” or just as real as “perceived” by the market) as we publicly pay for the sins of private industry.

We continue to ask and let the Federal government expand to take care of us and we have spent our way into a real conundrum here.

Take a look at this chart produced by the Heritage Foundation showing inflation adjusted federal taxation and spending…

 

I would encourage you to take a look at the full series here http://www.heritage.org/research/features/budgetchartbook/index.html

Here are a few highlights all of which are inflation adjusted comparisons (apples to apples):

• Federal spending per household has more than doubled since 1960.

• Federal spending grew nine times faster than median incomes since 1965.

• Federal spending is growing faster than federal revenue.

• Federal (federal only) taxes per household have increased from $10,800 in 1965 to $22,100 in 2007.

• Despite the cost of the war, Defense spending is below its historical average as a percent of GDP.

We’re like the spoiled children of very rich parents. As long as they keep paying for my car, my college education, helping me buy and keep my house, let me move in when I can’t get a job or give me money in the mean time, cover my car insurance and gas and so on... I have very little incentive to work and sustain myself.

And so "We the Cared For" spend money we don’t have.

We’re picking every ones pockets to keep up a life style we can’t afford.

Even worse, we dump social “policy” issues into federal mandates that are so far outside constitutional authority, your tax dollars are being used to promote laws, regulations and programs you don’t even agree with.

Well … "We" are the collective "Parents".

We may have been rich, but now we’re heading for the poor farm. We’re mortgaging and borrowing so much money to keep the kids happy that when they take over the estate they will have nothing but bills to pay.

In your personal life when there is no money coming in, and you’ve borrowed all you can personally, lenders won’t give you any more money.

The only difference in this personal and government comparison is that unlike the family who has reached its borrowing limit, the government can just keep on getting more loans.

Have you ever noticed when people get serious about controlling their expenditures? I mean really serious? Is it when the money keeps coming in? Of course not; it’s when the money stops and they have no choice.

We have to remove the choice from government just as the constitution is designed to do. That is the only solution to this problem. We have to cut spending to what is constitutionally authorized, cut tax revenues to meet the new  (lower) spending, and severely limit (stop) borrowing.

It can be done.

One only has to look back as far as welfare reform which was pilloried by the opposition (Mommy Government folks). It was a massive expenditure and since the parents were covering the bills, it also took out the children’s incentive for work.

It has also been a rousing success by almost any measure and even Obama admitted that while he was opposed to it then, he is now convinced by the outcome.

Our government is bloated with these same departments, programs and spending that do NOT belong there.

Rather than pushing out some little sound bite, let’s keep it simple and ask congress to actually go to work for us.

The definition of work here is not just showing up to scrounge up more money, borrow more money and then redistributing that money.

This work, real work, would consist of the following:

1. Create a “Constitutional Assessment Tool” (CAT) under which all aspects of government can be assessed. Note that I did not say against the case law, or the legislative and judicial authorities that have led to this bloated mess… but the actual Constitution.

2. Examine every single department and program and test it against CAT and identify every single department and program that is not authorized.

3. Formulate a plan to eliminate those that are not authorized.

4. Recast the federal budget and determine the required revenues (which will of course be significantly reduced).

5. Implement a fair tax plan to generate those revenues.

6. Require a balanced budget and eliminate current and future deficits.

7. Decouple the national banking system from private enterprise.

8. Implement this analysis for everything from this point forward.

With all of the entrenched interest, this would be very difficult and challenging work.

It is also the hard work and the approach we should expect from our representatives.

Instead of this distorted system where the goal is to get as much as they can for their individual constituencies, how about a goal of working for the “American” constituency so that we as a people may remain free.

After this is done, they can go back to grabbing at the collective wallet for their individual constituent interest…  within the legally defined limits of the constitution.