I really hope this post gets read a lot more than my last one. It has all the gory details one could want in it about why the America we have grown to love, or hate, is the way it is, and why. In my humble opinion. OK, maybe not so humble.
I would never leave America. I don't care who gets into office in Washington, D.C. or here where I live, or where you live for that matter. It will take a lot more than what we've been through for nearly 250 years as a United States of America to send me packing. You're welcome to go if your candidate doesn't get in in less than two weeks. Their entrance into office will likely change little. Our land is breathtakingly beautiful and, dare I say, a gift from God. We have made it into an even better place by protecting the best parts of it, and even more each year, it seems. Last year, my family and I made a "bucket trip" vacation to Yellowstone, and other points west and I never said "Wow!" more in my life. A gift, like I said.
This being a national election year we have been focusing a lot of hate on our friends, family (not me or anyone I know, mind you) and neighbors regarding our votes, but that is what our electoral processes have become in recent cycles: Billionaire backed, October-surprise fests, as predictable as deficit spending, inflation, layoffs, union strikes, and all the other things designed to keep citizens on their heels until after the first Tuesday in November.
The last time any presidency had consistent budget surpluses during almost every year of his administration, and turned it over with that surplus was Bill Clinton, when he left office in January, 2001. We have operated at a deficit ever since. There are many reasons for this, but when I talk to friends and family about economic matters and theories, they sort of glaze over and I become concerned about them becoming comatose.
But here's where the "Smokescreen" begins, and it is so important for all of us to know. We have long since lapsed regarding education about history, economics, civics, and things to do with American life and values that when Biden says he'll forgive student loan debt, or Trump and Harris say they won't tax tips, and all the other freebies they throw out, that we no longer recognize them as having a radical cost for all of us here in America.
Aside from which, I'll bet you didn't know that Presidents have little control over spending at all, let alone the Budget, or the deficit. The four worst deficits recorded by any of the presidents had nothing to do with party, either. In rank order they were: (1) Barack Obama-Post 2008 Financial Crisis; (2) Donald Trump-Covid19 Pandemic; (3) George W. Bush-9/11 Terror attacks, Katrina, Iraq Wars; (4) Ronald Reagan-Post 1980 Hyperinflation Crisis.
It's a flat out lie when I see political ads that declare that one candidate or the other will single-handedly cut mandatory spending or increase the same spending on their own. They can't. Only Congress can do that, but whatever works for an election. The last people you'll hear from on this are people inside The Beltway.
What is really dangerous now is that we are operating, if you can call it that, at a deficit of $36 Trillion. It's the biggest EVER. Yep. With a T, as in Too little going into the national coffers, and Too little coming in. Guess where that leaves us taxpayers? I'm happy for you tip-earners, but from now on I'll bring my own coffee. You guessed it--that money is coming from somewhere, and all those billionaires who are funding the campaigns of the elites who are running for national office these days, have probably hedged themselves already.
Deficits always need to be financed. A deficit is when tax revenue is less than what was estimated to have been needed to run things in government. Debt is financed by bonds, and other securities and is a reflection of debt minus surpluses (hint: we always have more debt). According to the World Bank most creditors get concerned when our our so-called "sovereign debt" is more than 77% of our annual economic growth. America has an ugly habit of borrowing from Social Security (bet you didn't know that). It's one of the ways Congress can get around the Treasury, who prints the money and authorizes the issuing of Treasury Bills.
How high is our current debt? Not 77%. Try 122.5%, my friend! Yep. The only good side to this ugly number is that the U.S. taxpayer is the biggest owner of the U.S. debt. We are followed by China, and Japan--some comfort.
How do we dig out of this financial pit? According to the online reference The Balance, there are four ways we can pay off our debt in the United States. I would add, they are critical to our long term prosperity and survival:
1. Cut non-mandatory government spending (things besides Medicare & Social Security)
2. Raise taxes (I wouldn't run on this platform)
3. Drive faster economic growth (Count me in!)
4. Shift spending to areas that create the most jobs (And focus all education funding here)
Politicians need to be honest, and grow a spine about the nature and magnitude of the problem, and treat it like the existential threat that it is. Neither of the current presidential candidates have done much to share a long term vision for what a healthy American economy should look like without this debt. They have just thrown bait to people to buy votes. Pretty insulting if you ask me.
Individuals are expected to manage their finances better than the Federal Government manages theirs (ours). We put them there.
We volunteered for this. Let us not continue to be victimized by ignorance, and unaccountability from those we have placed in power.
We're in serious trouble, and everyone is worried about whether, or not, their violins are in tune just prior to the stern hitting the Arctic ice. Living in America gives us the luxury of ignorance about a great many things. We focus on the politics of culture, religion, and patriotism, and theories of anything one wants to make an issue out of. The internet has placed the culture of offense on steroids and now these drive more things than intelligence, knowledge, and wisdom ever did.
Entertainment drives things faster and harder than strenuous labor does these days. People pursue leisure as a goal, instead of a way to recoup energy for the next goal, having achieved something. In my retirement, I'm guilty of this more often than not. I write as a way of repentance, so that I can be read, and perhaps my words will be found of use, and encouragement to someone looking for a way forward. To that person: "I hope you do."
Don't settle for what is. Enforce stern values on whom you have placed in positions of power and don't settle. That's what they want.
Last time, I started with a quote from Plato. This time, I'll end with a fitting one from him, and it's worth remembering, especially if you aren't up to speed:
"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato
