And which direction are we going?

"To really know which direction we are heading, we have some tough questions to be answered first. Hopefully, we elected people not to just run their yaps and act outrageously. I hope we elected people who should be able to lead. If not, the direction we will be headed this year will be straight to nowhereville - and fast."

Now that we are in the new year, most folks plan out the year ahead. Not in any great, nor excruciating detail, but a general direction would be nice. Like - where are we going? Not as a family, but as a country. Some think we are going over the cliff. That Donald Trump is taking us down the road to debauchery, decadence and defeat. Others think Donald Trump is taking us on the road to live in some of our greatest days. Prosperity, power and pride. 

I know. Starting off the year with the government shut down does not reflect well on anyone. Not to play Monday morning quarterback, but I hate the fact this shutdown came around Christmas and the New Year. Election be damned, it should have come on October 1st. Why? No budget. We were promised no more CR's, and we got one anyhow. All the funding documents AND the fence issue should have been resolved at that time. And if it resulted in the government be shuttered for a short time, better then than now.

The government shut down will be resolved, one way or the other. We need to, so we can go in a solid direction this year. To not solve it, would leave us going in circles with our immigration problem, like we have for so many years in the past. Once it is settled, I would love for our country to try to get along with each other - if just for a bit. We have some very important things to discuss, to agree on.

Like what? For starters - entitlements. We have swept that issue under the rug long enough. Most young people think it is more likely now to see Santa Clause riding in a UFO than to collect one dollar of their Social Security. And yet, the money keeps coming out of their checks, week after week, month after month, year after year.

We first need to fess up that this FDR Great Society program is really nothing more than a Ponzi Scheme, on the grandest of scales. Always has been. It needs to be scraped and re-worked into something sustainable. This year. Then while we are at it, Medicare and Medicaid also need to be addressed. Same issue. This year. 

Healthcare. BTW ICYMI - we still have ObamaCare. Warts and everything, it is the law of the land. Only now, since the mandate was scrubbed, a judge has ruled it unconstitutional. 
Why is it critical to fix it soon? Many people today are paying more for medical coverage than they are paying for their house payments. This is wrong. It needs to be fixed. This year. 

Which leads me to the final sticky wicket which needs to be fixed. Our national debt. It is getting ready to crest $22T. Some say not to worry about it. It is only money we owe ourselves and the Chinese. Others say this is a ticking time bomb. I side with that faction. This is a non-partisan issue. Both sides have run this debt up. So, somehow, somewhere, we need to get ahold of this issue. One more thing - our unfunded liabilities (That SS and Medicare are a part of), are almost $122T. Time to get serious about this issue. We have been living "off the card" long enough. We need a national discussion. This year.

One more tiny issue with regards to our national debt. Last year the Fed raised interest rates numerous times. Every time the interest rates go up, the cost to service this gargantuan debt also goes up. More money to service our debt, less money for everything else. And the Fed has threatened to keep raising the rates throughout 2019.

That is my two cents worth. To really know which direction we are heading, we have some tough questions to be answered first. Hopefully, we elected people not to just run their yaps and act outrageously. I hope we elected people who can lead on tough issues. If not, the direction we will be headed this year will be straight to nowhereville - and fast.