Deficit spending, debt and democracy July 13, 2011

I am blown away with the ongoing deficit and debt discussions!

What is there to discuss, our credit limit is up! There is no more money to borrow!

So how come our government is still talking about spending money it does not have! And don't give me that tax on the wealthy stuff, as if that justifies this protracted grandstanding. If anyone is serious about getting the country's deficit in order, and avoiding further debt, they would not waste time on the miniscule revenue gains from increased tax rates on a fraction of the population. It was not long ago that the budget was balanced. We know the painful cuts that have to be made; Paul Ryan's plan has made a very reasonable effort at doing just that (without throwing Granny under the bus I might add).

Don't be misguided by the debt level and the debate around increasing the limit. Warren Buffet was quite critical of using this issue because of the damage it does to the country's reputation. However, the debt limit is the only stick Congress has to extract some sense of economic responsibility from an administration that has run amuck with taxpayer's money and investor's bonds. The real issue is that a country, like a business or a family, cannot simply carry on spending more that it takes in.

President Clinton put it very well when he said he was justing putting the math back in the budget. Simply put spend less than you earn and you will not run a deficit. Anyone who now claims anything except meaningful and substantial spending cuts as the solution to the deficit is either delusional or deceitful.

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