Eat your Vegtables; Save your Money...

Most of us heard over and over as we were growing up the importance of eating our vegetables and saving our money. We heard it from our parents, most likely we also heard it from our grandparents. Both topics were sage counsel, as our elders wanted us to grow up with good, solid health and financial habits. As we read in the paper these days, some of us followed this advice, however many did not.

The Federal Government has also given us a myriad of financial tips and advise over the years. Live within your means, save 10% of what you make, pay your bills on time and so on. However, the Government, unlike our parents, is a hypocrite. Everything the Federal Government has told us to do financially, they have done the opposite. For example, living within your means. If the Federal Government lived within their means, there would be no yearly deficit or $16T debt. Our national debt has been bad in the past, but now it is ruining the country. If every family in this country spent considerably more than they took in as income (like the Federal Government does), we would all be bankrupt.

In most families, when monthly expenses exceed earned income, expenses are cut back. Some families who can cut back no further might take a second job to bring in more income. The Federal Government on the other hand, never cuts back on expenses - the cost of government just keeps on growing every year. The solution suggested by some is for the Federal Government to take the equivalent of a second job - raise taxes. When taxes have been raised to the breaking point, borrowing and/or printing more money is the next step. Unlike a family going bankrupt, our country's growth has slowed to a crawl as we are in the fourth year of a recessed economy and have a staggering debt.

How about savings? After we have been told to save 10% of our money, the Federal Government has nothing in the coffers -  we are dead broke. We spend it faster than we can print it. The result of this reckless spending, borrowing and printing has resulted in the dollar continuously losing value. It is so bad that John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign said "I would say our country is spending like drunken sailors, except I don't want to offend drunken sailors".

This November, we need to have RESPONSIBLE people running our government. They need to act as good stewards with our hard earned tax dollars. Waste and inefficiency can no longer be tolerated in government. When candidates come a knockin' to ask for your vote, first ask them this - do you believe in living within your means? Do you believe in care taking every dollar as if it was your own? It does not matter if the candidate is running for local, state, or federal office - the question applies to all of them. If we can't persuade the current crowd in Washington D. C. to run our country like a large family budget rather than a monopoly game, we need to quickly throw the bums out. We owe our children, our grandchildren, no less.