Between a rock and a hard place...

 

 

"Please don't tell me there is not a third choice!"

This is going to be a tough month. One of the reasons I say that is the growing number of "low information" or "no information" voters who populate our land. They are easy pickings for the scandalous liars who inhabit Washington and our media. Starting today, there is going to a huge dose of hyperbole, half-truths and no truths being spewed out all over the air waves. Those who are not informed will become nothing more than "sheeple".

Why do I say something so harsh on a Monday morning? Today on MSNBC, Steve Ratner (aka the former "car czar") put up some charts to show how much the economy is improving. He said, "The Republicans should be excited about the deficit coming down. It is projected to be half what it was a year ago". If you are not paying attention, and more importantly are not up to speed on economic terminology, one might think, "Great! Obama's policies are working and we don't owe as much money!" Wrong, and wrong again!

The analogy I will use is this. A year ago, I went out and bought a new Cadillac using credit I could not afford. This year however, I only went out and bought a Chevy, again using credit I could not afford. Since the Chevy did not cost as much as the Cadillac, I am doing better, right?

Our huge debt is still going up, only not as fast as last year. The fact that we spend more than a penny than we can afford is a problem. It is in my house. I don't care that Jack Lew broke the National Debt Clock - our debt is still going up and that is a big problem. So now comes the "rock and the hard place" issue:

• Our national debt is over $17T. That is the truth, an immutable fact.
• We will be out of money (supposedly) by October 17th.
• We are being asked to raise the debt ceiling by another trillion or so. 
• We have already raised the debt ceiling 7 times under President Obama.
• OMB has projected if we do not do something to reign in entitlement spending soon, the debt could be as high as $20T by the time Obama leaves office.

So what happens if we do not raise the debt ceiling this month? Depends on who you ask. 61% of voters (per Bloomberg) think we should not raise it unless there are corresponding (and realistic) spending cuts. Some economists believe it would be sending the junkie into detox. It would hurt bad for a while, but eventually cure the patient. Then there is the Paul Krugman school of economics which believe we will go over the fiscal cliff, never to return.

In less than twenty-four hours we will begin the biggest moment of truth our country has had in quite a while. Will the Republicans get weak kneed and "round heels" like they have in the past, or will they stand up for financial sanity. I do know this - more and more people are sick to death of "living off the card", both in their personal lives as well our national life. No more debt, pay our bills, tax EVERYONE fairly. Lets get the American dream going again and wake up from this fiscal nightmare.