** An American Promise **
● 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.
● A limitation on federal spending, to 20% of GDP.-
** About We Elected You **
** Building A Million Dollar Retirement Portfolio **
Most of the millionaires in the U.S. are small business owners, and their wealth is tied up in their businesses. They drive used, American-made sedans; they live in modest homes in middle-class neighborhoods. Most of them are first-generation wealthy; they did not inherit their wealth, but earned it the hard way, through adding value in a business, or by saving diligently. Source: "The Millionaire Next Door", by Thomas Stanley and William Danko.Have Your Say!
- John Lumbard on Problems With a Balanced Budget Amendment?
- Chris Curley on Problems With a Balanced Budget Amendment?
- John Lumbard on How to Fix the Health Care Mess
- Did Government Agencies “Raid” Social Security “Coffers”? « Joejolly’s Weblog on “The Debt The Government Owes Itself For Raiding Social Security”
- John Lumbard on The Antidote
- Gen Y on The Keepers of the Flame
- Chuck Bailey on Amendment Filed. Call Your Congressman!
- Phoebe Addington on Party On!
- FaGaurlwal on Incentives Rule!
- James Schaefer on The ENTIRE Government Runs on Borrowed Money
Topics
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Sustainable Government Archive
On Savings and Debt
By James Schaefer.
Some years back, at an annual company off-site retreat, a presenter was elaborating on money. He gave many definitions, then asked us to think of money in a slightly different way. Rather than thinking of it as a medium of exchange, he asked us to think of money as...
Read More Non-Partisan
By John Lumbard, CFA.
When we launched this blog in January of 2010 the federal debt stood at $12 trillion. The debt owed to the public (not including, that is, the US Treasury bonds held in the Social Security and Medicare trust funds---which Congress doesn't have to pay interest on or...
Read More Whence We Came
By James Schaefer.
The original colonists of America and Canada were risk-takers -- by definition, a self-selecting group of people -- willing to leave behind family and culture and language and all that stood for civilization to cross an ocean in search of a better life.
No government handouts awaited them.
That entrepreneurial spirit...
Read More Are We Like Greece?
By John Lumbard.
The fear that Europe will drag the U.S. into a recession is ebbing, and it's about time. It's likely that Europe is already in a recession, but we're not---and there's little reason why we should be, because our exports to the continent are only worth about 4% of our...
Read More Personal Responsibility in History
By Robert A. Armour.
The Plymouth Colony would have starved the first years without help from local Indians. But something happened in 1623 that unleashed the Protestant Work Ethic, and by 1635 most of the little towns within 50 miles of Boston had been established. The New World economy had taken off!
You...
Read More Jefferson Democrats and the 2012 Election
By James Schaefer.
In a Wall Street Journal piece entitled Obama and the Politics of Condescension, Karl Rove asks the question, "Do we place our trust in the federal government or the people?"
This question is not a new one.
At the founding of the republic, it was central to the debate.
Alexander Hamilton wanted...
Read More How To Create Jobs
By Paul K. Wright.
The economy of 2012 should look very similar to the economy of 2011, and it’s likely that we won’t see any change in this low-growth environment for a number of years. Consumers and corporations have been spending less and paying down debt, and while this lower rate...
Read More Balanced Budget Amendment Poll
A July poll, conducted by CNN, shows that 74% of Americans are now in favor of a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. It wouldn't be surprising to see that the numbers have ticked a bit higher in August, because the debt-ceiling debate revealed that Congress is far from mustering the...
Read More Balanced Budget Amendment Pros and Cons
In recent weeks there has been a debate in the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal regarding the merits of a balanced-budget amendment, or BBA. First came an opinion piece by Senators DeMint (SC) and Snowe (Maine) in favor of an amendment (so far this year 48 senators have co-sponsored...
Read More