The kleptocracy known as the federal government can’t stop spending money.
Both of the major corrupt mainstream (entrenched) parties tell us they have the solution. They do not.
With over 40 percent of the federal budget running on borrowed money, we are long past the stage of hoping it will all work out. Performing what are minor budget cuts will not work.
Raising taxes won’t contribute to solving the problem. This would only be a microscopic portion of money; even if you taxed the highest earners at 100 percent. So here, the president complaining about corporate jet owners while he flies around on a gas-guzzling 747 doesn’t show much leadership by example. If wanted to do that, he would in fact...fly on a “corporate jet” and save some money.
Raising fatherless kids and collecting a government welfare check has to be ended as a career path. Those that go to work every day cannot afford to pay for this largess.
Off-shoring everything that isn’t nailed to the floor has to stop. In the last 10 years, over 40,000 businesses have left the United States. Most of these are those critical sub-100 person shops that were a huge contributor to our tax base. If a company wants to locate overseas, they should no longer enjoy the protection of the U.S. taxpayer. End disastrous treaties like NAFTA and bring back tariffs. Do that, or continue to watch the U.S. become a third world nation.
We are now at the stage where whole portions of the federal government will have to be eliminated if we want to have a chance at survival. It is the United States of America. It is not the United Federal Government of America. Move some services back to the states. For instance, the Department of Education—by virtue of their poor performance—brings nothing to the fight. Close it down. There are plenty of other examples.
One can nation-build at home and still not have an isolationist foreign policy. Do not let those that love funding foreign lost causes use the label “isolationist”. Ridicule them at every opportunity. Operation: USELESS DIRT (and Libya), consume billions, per week, for no valid defense of the nation.
Defense is a small part of the Federal Budget Problem but still an important one. For instance; today, we fund a Navy that cannot (or refuses) to provide solutions to fight piracy. Why do we have a Navy with global reach if they cannot take this threat on with gusto? The Navy continues to buy the wrong equipment which is not very useful for high-end threats (look at the carrier air wing) and isn’t very useful for low end threats (look at the carrier air wing). The USAF is consuming great amounts of money but also is misdirected against threats and capabilities. Only one example this time. The USAF provides airlift but the C-17 (if one looks at how it consumes fuel) is not a “strategic” airlifter. We have a Marine Corps that is doing the job of a second Army and an Army that is struggling even if it is doing most of the heavy lifting in our useless wars.
One defense issue I feel strongly about is to bring back the draft. This does a few good things and should not be misinterpreted or fear-mongered. First, it provides the potential for a huge amount of manpower for defense and national emergencies when needed. Second, politicians will only engage in wars if they can justify it to the public. You might even see a President stand in front of Congress and ask permission for a declaration of war. This will help stop us from getting into wars of no gain. Third; a by-product of this will beef up our National Guard and the Naval Reserve. It would also have spin-off (indirect) benefits for the Coast Guard and other Department of Homeland Security agencies. Fourth; it will reduce some of the stress on the career officers, NCOs and enlisted technicians. Fifth, it will make our manpower problems (USAF and Navy still have no clue how to pipeline manpower without creating really stupid looking bathtub diagrams highlighting gross errors) more scalable. There would be a lot of resistance for this idea; mostly from those that want to generate fear to protect the status-quo. Two years; enlisted rise to E-2 or maybe E-3; officers get to O-1 or maybe O-2 and you are out.
Can the U.S. avoid looking like Greece? I doubt it. Unlike the state governments who cannot print their own money when they go into the red, the Federal Government has turned into a cancer for the American taxpayer.
The Federal Government (as a disease) would rather see soup lines than reduce its footprint. It will take some strong leadership to get us out of this problem. Leadership that the dysfunctional two-party system might be unable to provide.
