Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The Fiscal Cliff


I'd like to write a post about the fiscal cliff,  but it makes me furious. So this post won't be as long, or as in depth as I'd like it to be. Both sides are so horribly wrong. I don't mean, 'they don't understand basic economics' wrong, because economics is a complex subject that involves ignoring what you think is common sense and looking at underlying causes, motivations, and effects. I don't expect that from politicians.

What I do expect is some knowledge of basic accounting and of basic life lessons that every human on the planet learns growing up. Obama's plan is to raise the debt limit. His plan is to take out a new credit card to pay for the old ones, and to keep doing that until we die and stick the our children with the debt. Very few of the people who support him in this plan would be willing to do such a thing. It is irresponsible.

Democrats, the government has promised, and is delivering, more in entitlements than we can afford. In 2011, Social Security and social insurances brought in around $800 billion and paid out over $1.5 trillion. Simply raising the debt limit doesn't make that sustainable. It just passes the debt on to future generations. Raising taxes will help temporarily, but as soon as you start promising, and delivering even more we'll have to repeat the cycle.  And we know that you politicians WILL promise and try to deliver more. You've already proven that you lack the integrity to admit that you've over promised. We don't have an income problem, we have a spending problem. It's time for you to admit that you have over promised, bring spending levels back to sustainable amounts, and work not only across the aisle, but with people outside of politics far smarter than yourselves, to enact reforms that will minimize the damage.

Republicans, I can only guess that the reason you booted Justin Amash from the budget committee is that he supports hefty defense cuts. Defense has been your big sticking point. In 2002, the Defense Department requested $329 billion. The budget for 2012 was $695 billion. That is more than the rest of top ten spending countries combined.  When you need that much to defend yourself, it's time to admit that you are doing something wrong. We heard Romney say time and time again that we need to increase military spending, and be more confrontational so that we don't appear weak. But in the real world, confrontational people are not considered strong. They may be feared, but they are not respected. And they get into far more fights than is necessary. It's the kind hearted captain of the football team that steps in between the bully and his victim and stares him down without a fight that is loved and respected. It is not the bully who hits everyone he disagrees with. You are the latter, and somehow you've convinced the American populace that you are the former. And by lucking out and getting a Democratic president who is just as warmongering as you are, you've essentially silenced the anti-war crowd. It's a shame that enough Americans put party over principle to have allowed that to happen. It's time you put your own ego behind you, quit putting the lives of American soldiers and thousands of innocent people around the world on the line to feed that ego, and once again allow America to become an example. To become the gentle giant, and not the schoolyard bully. Our children and grandchildren should not be stuck with the bill because you want to puff your chest out and pretend you are tough guys. Living in constant fear of everyone around you doesn't make you tough, it makes you a coward. The greatest threats to this country's security, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Cold War, were solved not by fighting, but by being the bigger man. So the next time you say we have to be the "big" man, think of what it means to be the bigger man.

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