In recent years politicians have learned how to buy votes with taxpayer dollars. It's a permanent change in the functioning of our government, and it's now essential that we rein in their profligacy with a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution -- as well as a line-item veto and a limitation on government spending as a percentage of GDP.
Please see Facts and Figures for more information.
If we don't balance the federal budget, the interest on our debt will soar to a trillion dollars a year. Soon.
US NATIONAL DEBT
debt clock from USADebtClock.com
Miley Cyrus was scratched by a cat. A man tickled two girls on a playground slide, and he didn’t even know the girls. TV newsrooms judged that these recent stories were more important than world crises, voter anxiety and rebellion, student debt, or the federal debt. … [read more]
In the upper left corner of this page you’ll see a pretty little girl wearing a sign saying that she’s $38,375 in debt. That number is now $57,764, if you’re willing to use the Enron accounting standards of the federal government, which don’t acknowledge that she’s carrying liability for Social Security promises that we can’t pay. Medicare is actually much worse, but this year the Social Security Administration is sending out benefit statements—estimates of how much you’ll get per month when you retire—that say: … [read more]
Populism sounds like such a friendly and democratic word. Only the grumpiest blogger would complain about politicians doing things that make them popular …. Unhappily, the word “populist” has come to mean a politician who promises cash, services, or benefits to voters. He doesn’t offer to pay for these things with cash from his own pockets—that would be outrageous!—but instead offers to pay with borrowed money, or with cash taken from taxpayers. … [read more]
House Budget Chairman Tom Price just released his draft for the new federal budget (WSJ, Opinion: The GOP’s Budget Test, March 18, 2015). It sets a blueprint for the federal budget in the coming fiscal year, and will reduce federal spending by $5.5 trillion over the coming decade. If followed, it will put the federal budget at 18.2% of the U.S. economy by 2024. … [read more]
Jonathan Weisman wrote cogently in the Wall Street Journal about addressing the budget deficit (Voters Back Tough Steps to Reduce Budget Deficit, Aug 17, 2010 — subscription required).
He points out that tens of millions of voters are ready to accept tough measures to balance the federal budget, and that they are far ahead of their elected representatives in this regard. … [read more]