Unsustainable - Part 2

 

 

 

 

Un·sus·tain·a·ble - not able to be maintained at the current rate or level

 

I listen to Glenn Beck most every day. I like him. I know some don't. In fact, some even hate him. Hate him for his politics, hate him because he is a Mormon, hate him because he emotes too much. I like him because I think he is smart, I learn from him, and I believe he is a patriot.

 

Besides everything else, Glenn is often right on what he predicts. Right way more than he is wrong. He has been saying for years now to "watch the other hand". Keep in mind what the big problem is and how the Administration will try and obscure it. The big problem then and continues to be our debt. That is, aside from our renewed War on Terror. Our debt is still there - just because lap dog media has talked about it, does not mean it went away. In fact, when the Administration stopped the National Debt Clock, it did not stop debt reality.

Once in a while, "truth talkers" speak out - "truth talkers" with added credibility. Last year at this time, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a report on our debt. It was not pretty. The gloves came off, and the report issued a very dire warning. Here is but a sample of what the report said:

"But starting in 2016, deficits are projected to rise again as more baby boomers begin drawing from Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — the fast-growing entitlement programs, which Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on how to rein in.

The accumulating federal debt, which averaged 38 percent of the gross domestic product for the 40 years before the 2008 financial crisis, would rise from 73 percent of the G.D.P. now — above what most economists consider an optimum level — to at least 100 percent in 2038."

 

Okay, can anyone spell "Greece"? 2038 is only twenty-five years from now - a blink of time. We argue and fight over cuts in discretionary and military spending while the 600 pound gorilla sits in the corner of the room. We fight over the tip while the bill is left unpaid. Yet the answer is very simple - nobody currently on Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid will be affected.  In fact, nobody who is close to retirement will be affected. The only people who will be affected are younger workers. They will not be "screwed" - they will be offered a new type of plan which IS sustainable. If we cannot do this, ALL of us will go down the toilet together, young and old alike.

 

I hate to say this, but we really do elect idiots to serve us in Washington. Many are not idiots when they leave home, however when they get to the Emerald City and start drinking the water (or kool aid), they get dumb real fast. And they lie to us. Constantly. They lie and obscure the truth. They know this is a problem - it is our number one domestic problem. It is not gun control, it is not immigration, it is not "Cap and Trade". It is our debt and the ancillary problems that accompany it.

 

We need to remind our elected officials we are not stupid. We are not drinking the kool aid. We know stuff, and we care. FIX THE DAMN DEBT PROBLEM! Enact Simpson-Bowles for a starter. We can walk and chew gum at the same time. It is possible to address our debt issue while fighting the growing number of Islamic Terrorists. Stop screwing around with stuff that simply does not matter. Do the job you were sent to Washington to do. You owe it to us. You owe it to our kids. You owe it to our Founders.