Sh*t or Get Off the Pot

It's time for the United States to figure out which way we want to go. This is not an easy decision, but the central debate of our government and our society is really very simple.

Do we want government to provide services for our society or do we want the private sector to take care of these things?

It comes down to this, we can't keep trying to have both. We want our taxes to be low, hell we don't want any taxes at all. We want to keep all of our money. At the same time, we want good roads, good schools, a strong military, safe foods to eat, a cleaner environment, etc...Things that you need taxes to pay for.

There has been a return to an old trend in government. It is called deficit spending. You pay for what you want, and you just take on debt, instead of using tax funds for it. This makes the people happy. You can cut taxes and at the same time provide all the services that the people demand we get from our government. Here's the real trick of it, you then pass down that debt to the next generation. Let them worry about the mess. Reagan was a master at this. Thanks to the mess that he left our nation's finances, George H.W. Bush-a generally decent President, lost re-election to Bill Clinton.

When the 1st Bush took office, he had made the famous pledge of "read my lips, no new taxes." The problem was that our government owed the rest of the world a ton of money. They didn't want to loan us anymore until we started paying down our massive debt. So he had no choice but to reneg on his campaign promise. This effectively killed his presidency.

Well we are in another one of those times (Clinton lucked out with the economy getting moving in the right direction, and having increased revenue from the Bush tax increases that they were actually able to pay down some of the debt). Junior has left us with a mess. Instead of acting like the fiscal conversative that he portrayed himself to be, he spent like a drunken sailor and did nothing but give out tax breaks to the richest Americans (did you know that if you make over $500 million a year, you pay a smaller portion of your income to taxes than people who make $50k-$100k? Pretty disgusting eh?). So now Obama comes in with our huge stimulus package. A major part of that bill is $288 billion in tax cuts. It is supposed to go to the lower income people like myself, who have been paying the lion's share of the taxes for the past 8 years.

Where are we going to get the funds to pay off all of the debt that our nation has incurred over the Junior Bush years, and the debt we will incur with Obama's stimulus package? We have to cut spending and raise taxes. Two things NOBODY likes to do (even a grumpy jerk like me). The government only gets revenue from taxes. So if they don't raise taxes, they won't have the money to pay for the things that we consider vital (like $1,000 hammers, and $50,000 toilet seats in the defense budget).

So why don't we borrow some more? The only country that is really in a borrowing mood right now is China, which manipulates its monetary system so that basically, all loans are like the $5000 line of credit offers that we get in the mail. And China is not exactly our ally. They are not our enemy, yet, but they definitely aren't a friend either. Do we really want to owe a militarily aggressive, totalitarian country trillions of dollars? Not sure that is in our nation's best interest, or protects our country very well....

I myself am willing to pay more taxes to make sure that the services that most consider important to government continue. But I also believe that if we don't have the revenue for it, then we shouldn't sponsor a program. I think the defense budget can be reallocated to be smarter with our money such as sponsoring programs to build robots and drones that can defend our country without the risk of losing our most important assets, our young people versus sponsoring replacing the Air Force fleet with Raptor F-22s that cost $50 million apiece and yet aren't trusted to be used in high-leverage situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Oh, and I don't want to hear about how the IRS accepts donations. An extra $2000 from me isn't going to make a damn bit of difference. But an extra $2000 from 1000 people like me adds $2million to the pot, enough to get started on a school reconstruction project or a bridge repair, or many of a million important things.

If we don't want to pay taxes anymore, then its time for private enterprise to take over the roads, schools, military, everything. But we saw how well private enterprise did with rebuilding Iraq, and how well it did with running the United States Postal Service (reducing service, laying off thousands, AND asking for a government bailout). Not to mention people from CT remember how well that private company that took over the schools in Hartford did....ugh! I'm all for private business, but government and business have been tied together for so long in this country, that I just can't see it succeeding without a lot of growing pains (also known as corruption). If someone can really draw out a scenario where we pay minimal taxes and still private enterprise takes care of all of our needs, I'd really love to see it.

So I say that it might be time to raise the taxes. I don't like it, but I will be even more unhappy when China looks to collect our debts during my lifetime. I'm not ready to see the US become the puppet of another country (which would happen if China demanded we pay our debts ASAP). The people of my parents' generation made this mess, but I'm ready to start helping fix it. So instead of a tax cut, how about an old fashioned tax hike? That would not be business as usual in Washington, it would show real promise of change and real courage out of the Obama Administration.