Presently, all that is heard about government is the GOP refusal to compromise with President Barack Obama on the artificial fiscal cliff.
You ask me "artificial fiscal cliff?" Hey, it is real, because the Democrats tell me it is. Well, in truth there is a fiscal cliff and we have stepped off of it about 12 years ago. We are now in free fall, quickly approaching the rocky bottom.
At present, the only sane thing out there is the automatic austerity plans that will kick in the first of the year. Yes, everyone will bite the bullet on this one, but there is no choice.
Those fools (and I use this word seldom) who wish to believe Obama in the fact that the Republicans are creating a crisis because they will not raise the tax on their rich buddies should know this is pure bravo sierra, an old Navy term which many know. The crisis is here and has been for nearly 12 years so far, it is just Obama's administration runaway spending put things into overdrive.
As it stands, Obama and friends are trying to tell the American public they want to increase the debt limit by $1,600,000,000,000 (a bunch of 0's, isn't it?) while increasing revenues, which even under the most rosy estimate will be no more than $80,000,000,000. Now you can see, if you took grade school math, a 0.2-percent increase on income as compared to spending is not a real good fiscal plan, is it?
Obama and friends keep stating this is a good idea and will work out fine. Well, let me use a simple example that shows you just how foolish this is. This is similar to someone with a $50,000 income buying a $1 million home because he got a $250 annual raise and now can afford the loan. Oh yeah, liberals, all I did was take the same percentages and bring it down to a common-man level; no smoke and mirrors involved.
The Republicans are not clean as the fresh wind-blown snow, either. They also contributed into this deficit spending when they held the House, Senate and presidency; however, not to the level that this administration has. So both sides are at fault.
Now that the Republicans are taking a stand, which I feel they will wimp out, on letting the automatic spending cuts take place, the public is against them. If they wimp out and allow the Democrats to have their way, we will not gain a thing, maybe months before the wheels fall off and nothing more.
Many entitlement programs are bankrupt already, Social Security being one of the worst, due to incompetent government management. An example is Social Security and its funding methods, very low interest on investment due to their payout methods. It is set up so that once someone retires, their supposed account is moved into a non-interest bearing fund at one time. If you don't believe me, look it up; if it were done by a private agency, the management would get to wear a set of bracelets with a short chain, be told a short story of what their rights were, get to ride in the back of a car with no door handles on the inside, get to talk with a stern man in a black robe about his actions, and then get a fully paid vacation in a resort with crossbars on the windows and doors.
To sum it up, "We, the People," have been taken to the cleaners due to our own inaction, not Congress or the presidents past or present.
The only group seeming to be acting like real leaders are the Republicans in the House; sometimes you gotta do what is right and not what is popular. Taxes are going to have to go up on everyone, and government spending, including entitlements, are going to have to be cut. Yes, it is going to hurt, but allowing this to continue and ignoring the situation is just making the problem worse.
Tom Heer Sr.,
Attica
