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Economists have long argued that debt and deficit spending by government is different than personal financial management. The implication has been that as long as the red part of the equation remains relatively small in comparison to the green, all will be well. Number crunchers point to the tremendous debt and deficit spending coming out of W.W. II to illustrate the resiliency of America's economy.
There are two problems with this denial scheme. First, in the years following W.W. II, America retained fifty percent of the manufacturing capacity of the world and we were in an ascending economy. Today we are about consumption over production and there are dramatic confirmations that our financial status is descending.
A second problem has to do with appetites. The more our politicians and bureaucrats spend, the more they want to spend. Thus a temporary policy of debt and deficits in response to situational factors has evolved into a permanent policy of debt and deficits in response to situational ethics.
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The Candid Conservative Says-
The rules of finance are no different for government than individuals - we need no lessons from Uncle Sam on bankruptcy...
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Our national debt is currently at 13 trillion dollars - leaving an unfunded mortgage of $118,000 on the back of every taxpayer in America. Even more frightening is the inestimable trillions in promised social security, Medicare, and prescription benefits. The level of denial attached to today's debt and deficit picture is nothing short of spectacular.
The borrow and spend policies of the Bush years saw our military budget double in size - an investment poorly supported by facts and impacts. The promise and spend policies of Obamanomics led to Federal spending of almost two dollars for every one produced in revenue - a practice betraying the future of every young person in America.
We are still at a point where solutions can be crafted. Curbing our appetites; grabbing hold of military expenses; regearing America to a production versus consumption economy; reintroducing competition and patient accountability into our healthcare and entitlement systems; reforming the tax code; and retaining a hold on free enterprise over socialism are places to start. Conservative thinkers believe we owe something more than debt and faded memories to the generations that come later...
"I am one of those who do not believe that a national debt is a national blessing, but rather a curse to the republic; inasmuch as it is calculated to raise around the administration a moneyed aristocracy dangerous to the liberties of the country." - Andrew Jackson
Dr. Carl Mumpower
www.thecandidconservative.com
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