Bankrupt America

UPDATE: The title says it all. Read The New York Times, Estimate of Budget Deficit Now Tops $1.84 Trillion.

Holy bankrupt America, bat-taxpayers, that's a lot of money! The government can't even figure out how to cut $100 million from the budget, "about 13 minutes of federal spending, and 0.0029 percent -- about a quarter of one-hundredth of 1 percent -- of $3.5 trillion."

The real question is not how much we want to tax, but how much we want to spend. Read The New York Times, The G.D.P. Question.

Tax reform won't work unless there is spending reform.

On Taxes

Taxes, everyone hates them, but wants something from the government.

After you have prepared your tax return and finished with your local AstroTurf tax protest, sponsored no doubt by your local Republi-con party, read these articles:

The New York Times, Taxing, a Ritual to Save the Species,

The New York Times, Tax Revolts: Some Succeed, Most Don’t, and

The New York Times, Gorging the Beast, in which the writer argues that Obama seems to be trying to do too much at once, spending too much money without making the tough decisions about how to pay for it all. She also includes An Ode to Taxes:

Oh, little tax return form
No longer are you sad and lorn.
Fly away with your friends in a crowd
And try to make your filers proud.
Maybe you’ll fix a road or a park
Just please don’t turn into another earmark.

The Republi-Con Earmark Bogeyman

I'm not in favor of earmarks, but almost all Congressman use them. That said read CNN, Earmarks: Myth and reality. As this article states "their total dollar amount typically represents less than 1% of the federal budget." Therefore, eliminating every earmark would do little to balance the budget.

Earmarks are the new Republi-con bogeyman, a typical example of political whining. A serious political party would talk about the need for complete government structural and budget reform, what I've called GRAC.

America is Bankrupt, 2010 Budget Proposal is Robbery of Future

Unbelievable, in the first budget Obama "proposed $3.55 trillion budget for the coming fiscal year that he said discards "dishonest" accounting practices of the past . . . [that] would push the 2009 budget deficit to a massive $1.75 trillion."

This cartoon made me think . . .























Is Obama doing too much? Others wonder the same. Read, The New York Times, The Big Test.

Of course, Republi-cons hope Obama will fail. But like Crist, I hope he will succeed. That said, I think it is likely that Obama will fail.

(Note a difference between hoping for an outcome and think it likely.)

Why do I think Obama will fail?

In the 2010 budget proposal, Obama said "There are times where you can afford to redecorate your house and there are times where you need to focus on rebuilding its foundation, today, we have to focus on foundations. Having inherited a trillion-dollar deficit that will take a long time for us to close, we need to focus on what we need to move the economy forward, not on what's nice to have."

So, if Obama is serious, he won't redecorate the White House. Therefore I googled the terms Obama, redecorate, "White House," and guess what, the White House is being redecorated.

In addition, the budget includes 'limits' on pay raises for federal workers 2 percent pay and for the military to 2.9 percent. Given the complete failure of government in the last decade, 9/11, Iraq, Katrina, and the economic mess to name a few, and the fact that the federal government is essentially bankrupt, who thinks that government workers should get a raise. Obama's budget should include no pay raise for any government worker, in fact, the budget should require a 10% pay reduction for all government workers.

The government is robbing our future to save the Ponzi scheme that was Wall Street. The banks know it. Read the New York Magazine, The New Etiquette of Bank Robbery.

Time to end the bailout bull!

Time for GRAC.

Better, Not Just Less, Government

Now that the Republi-con ideology has proven false, what next? How about better government? Read The New York Times, Better, Not Just More, Regulation, which argues that the country needs a new regulatory structure that will make the markets function better, not worse.

Time for a Reality Check

Thanks to Bush's soaring budget deficits, neither McCain or Obama will be able to do half what they now propose or promise. See, Washington Post, When Life Hands You Deficits . . .

Time to implement GRAC, the Government Reform and Realignment Committee, to reform government. Wipe the slate clean of all government departments and agencies and add back only essential departments and agencies (the key work here is essential), honestly estimate the cost and reform the tax code to fund the entire cost of government, then implement over a ten year period. Presto, government reform.

Of course, someone with a little back bone will have to tell the public that we don't live in a fake world with false wealth, and you can't have your house and spend it too.

The Joke's on Us

An email (with a few changes) from a friend:

What was the reason given for developing the Department of Energy during the Carter administration? We have spent multi-billions of dollars in support of this agency and I am willing to bet not one person who reads this will remember the reason given. It was very simple:

"Promoting America’s energy security through reliable, clean, and affordable energy."

Don't believe it.... read their mission statement.

Now, haven't they just done a bang up job of fulfilling their mandate??

In 2008 the DOE budget was $24.2 billion. Money well spent, NOT!

Note: For years, I've advocated GRAC, the Government Reform and Realignment Committee, to reform government.