The U.S. Is On A Suicide Watch
Alan Caruba
The President has asked that the debt ceiling be raised another trillion or so and Congress will comply. That, I submit, is insane
In 1991, the Soviet Union, arguably the greatest experiment in Communism, collapsed. After Mao Zedong died in 1976, his successors moved to shift its Communist economy to one that embraced Capitalism while retaining centralized government control.
Following World War Two, the recovering nations of Europe were rescued from Communism by the Marshall Plan, but adopted Communism-Light in the form of Socialism. The U.S. was already headed in that direction, creating programs that we now call “entitlements.” For most of the nation’s history, such “entitlements” did not exist.
What binds together the financial problems of the West is the common thread of infantile behavior and thought. One might call it wishful thinking. Instead of encouraging people to provide for old age and possible illness, politicians decided to turn government into Big Daddy, the eternal source of money for everything.
Need to go to college, start a business, or plan for retirement? Government would be there to help. All this ignored the need to actually pay for these programs. In the case of Social Security Congress began to dip into its funding to pay for other programs! This is what children do.
One can look around the world and see what a failure both Communism and Socialism have been. Governments spending more than their tax and other revenues have suffered grievously from this path to default and that includes the United States of America. It can be argued that, with few exceptions—the Reagan years come to mind—Presidents have been poorly served by their economic advisors.
Politicians make poor economists because, in America, members of the House must think of getting reelected every two years and Senators every six. Moreover, being politicians, they believe that the more federal largess they can bring back to their State and then brag about is the one true path to reelection.
At the very beginning of the nation, Thomas Jefferson said it best. “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
How many commissions and special committees have earnestly produced reports intended to deal with a government grown too large? At the federal level, some two million or more Americans are employed promulgating a deluge of regulations and pushing paper.
Now President Obama says he wants to streamline the federal government.
The real issue is not “streamlining” government agencies by gathering them together under one roof and one administrator, but the failure to end government departments and agencies that no longer serve a useful purpose and whose removal would also remove countless obstacles to economic growth.
In April 2011, Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute warned that “the federal government is on track to spend more than $3.5 trillion this year. What most people don’t know is that government actually costs about 50% more than what it spends. That’s because complying with federal regulations costs an additional $1.75 trillion—nearly an eighth of GDP. And almost none of that cost appears on the budget.”
The United States of America, the greatest engine of wealth the world has ever seen, is bankrupt. The national debt exceeds the Gross Domestic Product, the sum total of all revenue generated by goods and services.
The President has asked that the debt ceiling be raised another trillion or so and Congress will comply. That, I submit, is insane.
I also submit that, since Barack Obama was sworn into office on January 20, 2009, the nation has been witness to the economic insanity personified in the man and in the Democrat-controlled Congress that was his partner until 2010 when the control of the House of Representatives was wrested away by the Tea Party movement and its support for Republican candidates.
The only constant in life is change. America’s demography has changed. We have, thanks to medical care and other advantages, a much older segment of the population than ever before, but the nation from the 1930s to the 1960s had committed itself to ensure they would have Medicare and Medicaid at a time when people more often than not died in their 50’s and 60’s. We now have an average life expectancy of 78 years. My parents lived into their 90s.
Politics, not economics, continues to make it impossible to revise and restructure both Medicare and Social Security to reflect this reality. Instead, we had Obamacare foisted upon us which took trillions from Medicare and imposes rules that will let elderly heart attack or stroke victims die rather than pay for a level of care to which they contributed during their working years.
If the Supreme Court declares Obamacare unconstitutional it will go away. If we elect a Republican Senate, the repeal already passed in the House will be passed and it will go away.
But America’s economic problems will not go away until Americans insist that the shackles of Big Government be cut loose to enable the growth of an energy industry that can not only make the nation energy independent, but produce billions in revenue as far as the eye can see into the future.
The tax system with its thousands of pages must be revised to a simpler, fairer program. It makes no sense that forty percent of Americans pay no taxes at all.
It’s not that we don’t know what must be done. Conservative think tanks like The Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, The Heartland Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and others have spelled out programs that can and will save America, but the nation must be led by a president who understands that Capitalism involves budgeting, planning, hard work, and—yes—risk.
The federal government is running on “continuing resolutions.” It has not had a formal budget since Obama arrived. This is no way to run the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. America is on a suicide watch and we are just an election away from saving it.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/43976
© Alan Caruba, 2012
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Alan Caruba
Most recent columns Alan has a daily blog called Warning Signs. His latest book is Right Answers: Separating Fact from Fantasy.
Alan can be reached at [email protected] |
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Oh..and Capitalism is such a current success?
Nevern underestimate the hunger of the mighty for even more!
Well unfortunately for this author, reality speaks otherwise. Not one problem he enunciates is worthy of note. The most important duty of a governemt of any country is to make sure the people live in a decent, law abiding and fair society. The US is not that, at least not today it isn’t. The so called
“communist light” nations provide just such an environment for their peoples. “Communism” is a system that has proven untenable in real life. Socialism has no part of government owned means of production or agricultural lands etc. Capitalism is well and operating in all of these so called “light” countries so please cease the foolish propaganda.
This article is so full of crap and it is only possible that the nob that wrote it is a rightwing nut and should have his head examined.Look the US government is run and controled by the ultra right or as they say the corporatist run the show and they are the Pharma,Military Industrial,Agri,Wallstreet so don’t go blame a government that is controled by the people for the people because if we had it our way you right wing nuts would be in jail for the fraud and theft that has be going on since the start of the Federal Reserve.It’s the Coporations that have dipped into my social security contibutions and then tells me that it is a entitlement as though I was getting something free.How dare you say it like that when these coporations have not only not contributed to it but made us because they felt they need not have a pension for there employees, you know the ones that work and produce something for there money,the ones that helped the coporations make there profits rise while are wages stayed the same.Sorry buddy but go blow smoke up your own ass.
Capitalism is NOT the opposite of Socialism/Communism. Even Socialists and Communists need to capitalize on markets and capitalize on workers.
The opposite of Socialism/Communism is Libertarianism.
This is one of the great articles of all time.
Ron Paul 2012
The real problem, obviously, is simply that money is borrowed by the government from the Fed instead of raising taxes to buy what’s needed. This borrowed counterfeit money is then repaid to the bankers plus compound interest. Oy vay! It’s a miracle! The interest is funded by taxing the people via the illegal racket run by the equally-fraudulent IRS, which was set up on the heels of the Fed so that the interest repayments would be ensured. So, delete the Fed. ( see Ron Paul about this. )Delete the IRS. Everyone now receives the full fruits of their labour. Some of this vast amount of additional cash is then periodically and voluntarily paid to the govt so they can fund infrastructure projects which everyone democratically agrees to and votes for. If any more is required, it is simply printed by the govt, not borrowed.
To prevent global economic meltdown returning, everyone who is of Ashkenazi descent is rounded up and shipped to Antarctica. ( Hint: Ashkenazi are not Jews, so this necessary step can be confidently undertaken without falling foul of the antisemitism laws )
Rome.Babylon REBORN
You mean the gay pres.
‘Rome.Babylon REBORN’
Correct! Here comes the Water Carrier!
Common sense article…wish it was contagious
The author of this article has got to be reporter John Stoocel ! This is his M.O ., MORE money for the Corporates and Wealthy . Everyone else , you are on your own !! His type continously call for free markets and our current form of Capitalism , which is actually a SOCIALIST CORPORATE structure . PRIVATE PROFITS and public BAILOUTS !! Sorryn John , but the masses have finally caught on to the GAME !!
Google: Huge Media Blackout then click first link
Read Luke 21:25-28
There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth,nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28then these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:25-28
God reveals also in His Word that just before it is finished, a loud trumpet blast will be heard, and the words, “It is finished” will be heard from the sky. And an earthquake larger than any since man has been upon the earth will take place.
We are very close to Christ’s return.
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, it is time to STAND UP and LIFT UP your heads, for our Redeemer is close!
Blessings in Christ
This blogger is an idiot!!!!
Lol… Stop man that’s funny…” This blogger is an idiot”. He will have a lot of company with the return of all the so called saviors. But what did they save? We are still suffering!