Throw the bums out; see what happens
The White House and Congressional Democrats are proudly predicting that by the time President Obama leaves office, he will have reduced the budget deficit from the projected $1.7 trillion to only about $600 or $700 billion. The Congressional Budget Office is not as optimistic and believes that the budget deficits for the next decade will continue to be about $1 trillion a year. Wow, if the president is correct, what a great accomplishment that will be, a budget deficit of only about a half a trillion dollars in 2016. But perhaps we should temper our enthusiasm just a bit, because this is the yearly budget deficit that they are talking about and not the national debt. The national debt now exceeds $11 trillion and is rapidly rising. Until 1980 the national debt had never exceeded $1 trillion (not adjusted for inflation). Under President Reagan the national debt began to spike and reached $5.8 trillion when President Bush took office in 2001. So in eight short years the national debt has increased more than 90 percent. It will cost the U.S. $4.5 billion in interest payments on the national debt in 2009. That is the good economic news, because the deficit spending by the Congress is happening at a time when Social Security is running a surplus. In about 10 years when the baby boomers have retired, there will be more going out than is coming in for Social Security, Medicare will be bankrupt and then the U.S. house of cards will really be teetering on fiscal disaster. Unfortunately, both parties are to blame for the economic crisis, so voters have only one option left if they want to stop the irresponsible deficit spending by Congress: vote to oust every incumbent. Yes, there are a few politicians that are fiscally conservative, but they are few and far between. Politicians understand one thing: votes. Get rid of the current Congress and replace every one of them in upcoming general elections. Will it happen? No, because most voters are apathetic and ignorant about what Congress is doing with their tax dollars and some actually believe that there is a difference between the parties when it comes to government spending. The spending by the Republican Congress from 2001 to 2006 debunks that myth. But maybe if enough incumbents lose, those who keep their seats will get the message and stop deficit spending and wasting our tax dollars.
Victor Darst
West Dundee