Plunging Towards Gomorrah
Posts tagged Spending
Chris Christie: A Breath of Fresh Air
May 18th
I saw this video a couple of days ago and I haven’t had time to post it. It’s too early to tell if New Jersey Governor Christopher Christie will be successful, but I do like his frank tone.
Christie’s rhetoric sounds great but we’ll see if he means business. So far he’s saying and doing all the right things. The fiscal decisions we’re facing aren’t going to be popular. The reason government spending is so high is because politicians are adept at creating programs that are popular. The first politician that’s serious about reducing our spending will be labeled anti-elderly, anti-education and anti-military. It’s going to take a special kind of person to lead us out of this mess.
Earth to GOP: Push the Balanced Budget Amendment
Apr 3rd
This won’t make partisan Republicans happy, but I think the economy is headed in the right direction. It probably won’t recover quickly enough to save the Democrats in November, but for Obama there’s a lot to be optimistic about. First of all the President was able to pass his key item: health care. It doesn’t matter if it’s unpopular; there’s no chance it will be repealed while he’s in the White House. Plus, thanks to the way the bill was written most of the truly heinous problems won’t starting destroying the heath care system for a decade. Sometimes it’s good to be King.
Save us Obi Wan Constitution. You're our only hope.
The economy is always the main issue in elections and I’ve thought for months Americans aren’t really angry with the White House; they’re angry about the economy. The Republicans should quit banking on the economy staying in the tank forever and come up with a plan to save the Republic. Obama and the Democrats are a short-term business cycle rebound from bankrupting the nation forever. At this stage it’s time for a Reaganesque “starve the beast” strategy. If Americans want to be sold a populist bill of goods then so be it.
I wrote last month about the Balanced Budget Amendment. This is a very populist bill that despite its economic theory problems is a best solution available to solve the nightmare fiscal situation we’re facing. Let’s be frank. Despite the fact the President has insisted that his health care bill is deficit neutral, it’s not. He’s living in fantasy land. The claim is laughable and reflects what Obama thinks about the intelligence of the American people. Even The Economist, which endorsed Obama’s bill, thinks that it’s going to add to the debt. The GOP should move fast and make the Balanced Budget Amendment the keystone issue in the 2010 election.
Faced with a Constitutional amendment mandate, Congress will be forced to either raise taxes or cut entitlements. The nation needs to make this choice sooner, rather than later. If we had honest leadership we would be addressing these problems now instead of passing it off on some other generation. The only question is can enough people push for this amendment before it’s too late?
If the RNC is any indication there’s not a lot of hope for the GOP. The RNC supposedly doesn’t like big government but they don’t mind it as long as they’re in power. There needs to be a revolution inside the GOP if there’s any hope of tackling America’s fiscal problems.
Time: Please Quit Worrying Now
Mar 8th
Remember how news outlets on the left lamented every single day about deficits under the Bush administration? Now that Obama is in the Oval Office the days of worry are over. It’s simply amazing how Time whores itself out trying to defend the government when there’s a Democrat in the White House. Today Time has an article by Zachary Karabell defending debt.
Worrying about debt is like gaining too much weight and worrying about the size of your clothing. America’s indebtedness would be sustainable and even healthy if the underlying economy were vibrant, innovative and strong and if federal and state governments could channel those moneys productively and quickly. The problem isn’t how much debt we’re carrying today; it’s whether the economy of tomorrow will be able to justify it.
Karabell goes even further suggestion that we should be “investing” more or in other words spending more money. While I agree with some of what Karabell has to say it would have been more applicable four years ago. Simply hoping the dollar remains strong and that interest rates stay low is not a recipe for maintaining a lot of debt.
The Balanced Budget Amendment
Mar 2nd
I have been against the balanced budget amendment since I learned about it in economics. The reason to oppose it is simple. It hamstrings what the government can do during a recession. In 2001, when the economy was slowing Bush cut taxes (the wrong way) to help jumpstart the economy. Under the balanced budget amendment Congress would have to remove some kind of program to be able do that. But now I’m beginning to change my mind about the balanced budget amendment. Not because the arguments I just listed are incorrect, but because it appears Washington is unable to restrain spending even in the face of a fiscal catastrophe.
My only fear about passing the amendment now is that it might be too late already. Even if the government was in balance this year there would still be long-term problems with debt the U.S. has accrued over the past three decades. However, a balance budget amendment would force Congress to either raise taxes or reduce the size of government. Supporting a balanced budget amendment isn’t the best choice, but the only one that will force Congress to confront the problem. It is also an attainable goal. Congress was only a few votes short of passing the bill during the Clinton administration.
The GOP would be wise to make this part of their platform for the upcoming elections. The balanced budget amendment enjoys a lot of populist support and Americans are clamoring for fiscal restraint in Washington. The amendment would change the tone in D.C. for the next 20 years. It’s time politicians start figuring out how we pay for all these entitlements we’ve dreamed up over the past 60 years and stop worrying about adding more
the independent voter
Nov 5th
The fickle independent voters… They’re courted by politicians every election. Independent voters are growing in number. Much has been said about the number of self identified Republicans and Democrats. For whatever reason people are proud to be Democrats. This isn’t new phenomenon, and I’m sure a whole book could be dedicated to party loyalty. The number of independent voters is growing because people are disillusioned with the Republican party. Who can blame them? I had always been a registered Independent until last year’s presidential primary. Florida isn’t an open primary state, so I registered as a Republican to vote.
What is a disillusioned voter to do? This answer isn’t as simple as switching parties. Many voters are fed up with the size and power of the federal government. Ever since the New Deal the government has been spending more and more money. By 1980, the tax burden to pay for everything was killing the economy. Reagan wisely cut taxes to reinvigorate the economy, but Washington has lacked the political will to reduce spending. It’s easy to cut taxes, but it’s nearly impossible to rein in spending. That’s where we are today: twenty years of low taxes and high deficits. Liberals simply want to raise taxes, but doing so would cripple our economy.
