Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Defense, Entitlements, Debt, & Solutions

I've been gone awhile, but I'm back and still paying attention. I have been busy having a child, working, building a house, and raising my son. At no time did I become complacent with the current dealings and actions of our government. I am going to try to start writing this blog again. It may be at a limited capacity due to the limited capacity of time that I have nowadays. I had just about forgotten about blogging until the other day. I was at work and happened to stumble upon my own blog. I noticed since I had last written, I had taken on a few more followers. After I read my previous blogs, I was actually inspired to start writing again. So here I am and thank you to those of you who have chosen to follow it. I can't go back and cover all of the farces that we have witnessed over the past few years, but if you are a follower of this blog then you probably are already aware of them. Obamacare, EPA regulation of CO2, activist judge appointments, Lybia, Egypt, the list goes on.
Today I want to write about spending and debt. Our current US debt is $14.2 trillion. That's $14,252,000,000,000!!! and counting. (For all of you Bush haters that's $4.5 trillion in 2 1/2 years as opposed to Bush's $4 trillion over 8 years, Hopey, Changey, LOL) If we wanted to pay off the national debt today, every man, woman, and child in the US would have to pay $46,000. That means a family of 4 would owe $184,000+. Most of us don't owe that on the homes we live in. So could you afford an extra house payment a month worth of taxes? Of course not. Where did it go? Well the big three are Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, and Defense respectively. Earmarks are waste for sure, but not to the degree of the BIG three. The problem is that while the Democrats and Republicans were arguing over $60 billion, the country actually added more than that to the national debt. Pelosi and Reid were of their usual mantra, "What about the children, elderly, and cowboy poetry?" That last one is actually true. Bing search: "Harry Reid Cowboy Poetry" Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that while they were threatening a government shutdown over $60 trillion, the debt just keeps getting bigger. The Democrats always want you to picture the elderly eating cat food to survive. Do you know anyone who has ever eaten cat food to survive? Me neither. Why is it that every time a politician mentions cutting the budget the Democrats always resort to these emotional, yet illogical arguments? As if there are not any cuts that can be made that would not force teachers, police, and firemen out of their jobs and at the same time force the elderly and the children to eat pet food. Would cutting funding for the cowboy poet festival cause these problems? Of course not. But that's not the issue is it? The issue is that the Democrats believe that all of the money in the US belongs to the government. That they just lend it to us and they just allow us to keep a portion of what they lend, to do what we want with it. That is why Obama said that the "Bush tax cuts were not paid for". How do you "pay" for a tax cut? Well if your mind operates like a socialist's, then it makes perfect sense. Your money already belongs to the state. So if you are allowed to keep more of it, then it costs the state. You see? This mentality is what is fundamentally wrong with our politicians on both sides. There are a lot of Republicans that think this way too. Just not to the degree that liberal Democrats do. Democrats are always on the attack for more of your money i.e. taxes. Republicans, for the most part, try to keep the money in your hands so that you will spend it on products and services and generate taxes in that way. What irritates me is that whenever a cut or a policy change comest up, it always ends with the liberals getting more out of it than the Republicans. I have never understood why the Republicans always have to be the compromisers and the Democrats are always being appeased. The Democrats see problems and government solutions to everything and I mean everything. Seriously, if cowboy poetry can't survive without government intervention, then it is not worthy to survive. People can still write poetry without a government subsidy. For example, I'm writing a blog without any government funding. Like I said before, the earmarks are not the real issue. The real issue is entitlements. I have an idea and I'm not sure how well it would work, but we're running out of time. Just Bing search: US debt clock and you will see that are time is running out FAST.

My plan involves major cutting to the big three. Medicare/Medicaid are the hardest, so I will come back to those. The first and easiest is defense. I am of the mind to take a more isolationist approach to defense. Let's begin with all of the military bases we have all over the world. Why do we still have a base in Germany? WWII has been over for a long time. The Nazi's will not come back into power if we close that base. What is the total operating cost of all of the foreign bases around the world? I say if we are not actively fighting there, then close it. Some will have to remain for various reasons that can't be avoided. I'm not saying be total isolationists but just closer to that than we are now. Keep the funding for advancement of munitions and weaponry. We want our military to be the very best in the world. We just don't need all of these bases in every corner of the world. Another thing we could do is abolish NATO. We don't need to go to war just because someone we have a treaty with goes to war. If we took this approach, it would have to be made well known to the world, we are closing our bases around the globe and will no longer be tied to any treaty that would force us to intervene in another country's military affairs, BUT if you mess with us(09/11/01, USS Cole) or harm our citizens abroad (Somali pirates), you will pay the ultimate price. The whole US military will be upon you like the wrath of God. The only way we should get involved in another country's affairs is if we are fully compensated for our expenses plus some.

On to Social Security. This is one I have a real problem with. I personally hate social security. It is the biggest of the BIG three. It is the ultimate ponzi scheme. It was also doomed the minute it began. It was always just a matter of time, just as is the case with all schemes. Ida May Fuller was the first woman to receive monthly SS checks, after having only paid $24.75 into the system over the course of 3 years, her total payments before her death were $22,888.92. So you tell me, is it a ponzi scheme? I'd say hell yes. Anyway, the baby boomers are retiring and soon will all be retired. When this happens, you will have more people taking SSI benefits than are paying for them. This might not have been such a problem had the SS been in an untouchable account, instead it was added to the general fund. Now SS money gets thrown in with everything else and it gets spent on cowboy poetry and the like. Before you SS beneficiaries blow a gasket at me, let me explain my position. I definitely do not want you to eat pet food, but I would like to keep some of my money before I die. I don't like being the bearer of bad news, but I have to tell you that the government has lied to you concerning SS. They promised if you paid in that you would be taken care of. I'm sorry but those who came after them have squandered your money. I know you must be thinking that I don't care about the elderly but I have two living grandmothers and three living in-law grandparents and love them all dearly. My father is retired and my mother will follow in the coming years, so I don't want them to be without either. As you will see I'm torn on this issue. I want to say, "Oh well, party's over" but that just sounds mean so what I would suggest is one of two options. One is to continue the SS program for those that already rely on it and are currently accepting payments(retirees). Those of us who are not retired get a full refund of all which has been paid in over the course of our working lives. When that has been done it will then be up to the individual to make his/her own decisions what to do with the lump some you have had returned to you. Basically, here's your money back and you're on your own. That is one approach. My second approach would be to say, "Party's over for everybody". If you haven't saved for your retirement then you would have move in with your children. If you don't have children then private charities would have to be established. Before you go and smash your computer, you have to understand what is at stake. These are EXTREME times we are living in. We are talking about the end of the USA as we know it, if something doesn't change. I'm not talking about swallowing you pride to save face. I'm talking about swallowing it to save freedom. We are at a crossroads. Either we continue on this path and become serfs to a socialist mega-government or we take steps necessary to prevent this from becoming a gruesome reality. I for one am willing to take whatever steps are needed to prevent my son from growing up under that yoke. I would rather die than to see my child become a slave. So if I could prevent serfdom by moving my parents into my home when they retired, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Now the real problem with SS is not so much the retirees as it is the never-have-worked. If it wasn't for this class of people, then the SS system would probably still be solvent. Here is the real problem. Welfare and food programs are at the heart of SS's bankruptcy. The issues discussed in the previous paragraphs would not be necessary if not for the constant drain on the system by the welfare drolls. Those individuals who have never held a job or cared about where the monthly check comes from. These are the real problems plaguing us. I would propose a plan to stop all payments to individuals who have received welfare or food stamps for a period of longer than 3 years. No longer would we subsidize laziness and lack of motivation. If you don't work then you do not eat. If you are physically disabled then that is different. We will work to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves. What we will no longer do is provide for those who refuse to provide for themselves. The problem with these people is that they don't care about freedom, they are already slaves to the system. The only requirement for them is to vote Democrat. So if they are against abortion, they still have to vote for those in favor of it so that they can get paid every month. They are willing to sell out their values for a little bit of "free money". With that being said, everyone is responsible for their current situation. the choices you make in life follow you throughout your entire life. If you make a bad decision, it is up to you to correct it or learn to live with it and move on. Never give up on what you want. You may not be a pro quarterback or superstar actor/musician. So few of us are. You can still be a positive instead of a negative. This is America, there are opportunities everywhere. You just have to be willing to push for them. The only thing that can stop you is you.

We as a people must come to grips with what is at stake. We can no longer sit idly by as our politicians use our money for their own wants and desires. You have to act now. Get involved find your voice and use it while you still can. Freedom works has a great webpage called FreedomConnector. It is a great way to get involved within your community and help open the eyes of your friends and neighbors. The old saying goes, "Evil will triumph when good people do nothing". I am begging you to do something. Look at your children, look in their eyes, and now picture Eastern Europe. Is that what you want for them? It will happen here if it is allowed. We the people must be the barrier that blocks this. The ruling class cares only for their rule. The libertarians and the Tea Parties are the answer. The Republicans are starting to come around slowly, but I've been fooled by them before. When they are fully restored as they once were, I might try to put my support behind them. The more Tea Party minded people who infiltrate the Republican party, the better. I think the Bachman's, Paul's, and Rubio's would be more appealing if they became libertarians. It is always better to have alternatives. After all, that is what drives our free market economy.