Archive for February, 2010

What happened to leaving this country a better place for future generations?

“What happened to leaving this country a better place for future generations?” — “Generation Y”, Feb 23,  in response to “A Pledge of Fiscal Responsibility“ In recent days other respondents have alerted us to a similar proposal (the “Contract From America”) that is being developed by Tea Party organizers, and it’s likely that...
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Balance the Budget

The press and the public have largely accepted the need to do something about the nation’s growing debt, and that’s very encouraging.  But there isn’t much time;  we don’t have to actually balance the budget in the next two years, but it’s essential that we prove to the world (the...
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A Pledge of Fiscal Responsibility

(To be taken by candidates for federal office) I pledge that, if elected, I will introduce legislation to establish: A Balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, with appropriate exceptions for times of war and recession. A line-item veto, to give the President a fighting chance to eliminate pork and earmarks. Term Limits, of any durations...
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A Political Platform?

“Why not take the five ideas from your first post and bundle them together as a political platform? Then ask candidates to pledge to fight for those proposals if they get into office.” — “Massachusetts: Cradle of Revolution”...
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The Debt, The Deficit, and You

The White House recently projected a $1.6 trillion deficit for 2010.  The deficit is the amount of money the Congress borrows each year, whenever it spends more than it collects in taxes.  This $1.6 trillion is new debt, on top of "the federal debt” that you’ve been hearing about for years, and it’s...
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A Trillion Dollars

How big is a trillion dollars?  A trillion one-dollar bills, stacked one on top of another, would reach 67,866 miles. Forbes says that the richest 400 Americans-Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison, the Wal-Mart Waltons, Michael Bloomberg, Michael Dell, the guys from Google, and 389 of their peers-are only worth $1.27 trillion....
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