Who will save us?

Our government does a lot of things to protect us.  They have increased security at airports, they regulate drugs, alcohol and firearms, they make sure we do not drive fast, and they require us to wear seat belts.  However, the single largest danger to America today was created by government, and that is the economic consequences of unsustainable debt.

We cannot blame a slow economy, we cannot blame corporate greed, we cannot even blame the federal reserve.  There is only ONE way to get the nation into massive debt, and that is for all members of government, and all political parties, to act together and create the problem.  It really does not matter if the reason is incompetence or ignorance or some grand conspiracy, we must remember who is accountable, and we must remember all budgets were approved by our leaders.

The American people sent a clear message in the mid-term elections, for many people the single most important issue was wasteful government spending.  A new TEA party movement even swept the nation, suggesting the budget gap should be closed by reducing spending, not increasing taxes.  Obama himself said the last elections were a "shellacking", but did he get the message?

In his State of the Union address, Obama suggested we "freeze" spending at current levels.  Perhaps he needs to review our current levels of spending.  Our current spending level has increased our national debt about 1.5 trillion dollars per year, over the last 3 years.  That is 1.4 billion dollars per day, or 171 million dollars per hour, or 2.9 million dollars per minute.  How can anyone think we should "settle in" at this spending level, when we desperately need spending cuts.

In the spirit of the new "bipartisanship" attitude, let me be the first to find some common ground we can all agree on, regardless of party or political views:  Nothing good can come from increasing our national debt at a rate of 171 million dollars every hour.  If we cannot agree on that, we will never agree on anything.

Now for a few disclaimers:  Please do not try to tell me that one party is good and the others are bad, I do not want to hear it, they all take their share of the blame.  And yes, I realize Obama inherited a lot of debt and I certainly do not blame him for all of it.  Lastly, I am not promoting the TEA party movement, although I like the fact that more people are getting active in politics.

Written by Jim Shures