common_sense

Lessons from the Ferguson Fiasco

/ L. M. Walker / Leave a comment

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” – James 3:17 (NIV)

– By: Larry Walker II –

It was back in the late 90’s when a good friend of mine, an old Air Force veteran named Dan, relayed to me that he had recently killed a young Black male at a bus stop. When I first heard this I was shocked and in disbelief. Old Dan must have been close to 70 years old at the time, his body riddled with cancer, brain tumors, and other serious ailments, worn-down by years of battling with the disease of alcoholism. To me, he didn’t appear capable of killing anyone. I had talked with him every day since the incident, but he didn’t bother to mention a word about it for more than a week.

Dan was a Russian immigrant, a tough old bird, and a proud veteran. Yet his physical ailments eventually got the best of him. He passed away just a few months after the incident; God rest his soul. He spent the last day of his life sober, and doing the same as he had on the day he took that young man’s life, helping young folks recover from their struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction. Here’s the story he told me.

He had just gotten off of work and walked to the bus stop to make his way home. It was raining that day, so he was carrying an umbrella. As he sat there, smoking a cigarette while waiting on the bus, a car full of young Black males crept by slowly on the opposite side of the street, its occupants staring him down. Suddenly, one guy shouted out, “What you looking at cracker?” Dan tried to ignore them, but his heart began to race due to the threatening tone.

Then the predictable happened, his worst nightmare. The car made a U-turn, and slowly pulled up, parking just a few yards away. Suddenly, a young man darted out of the vehicle and began walking directly towards him, one hand concealed under his coat. Again he shouted out, “I said, what the eff you looking at cracker?” Dan replied, “I’m not looking at anything, just waiting on the bus.” The young man looked around, and then sped up his approach, his hand yet concealed.

When he got within a couple of feet, that’s when my friend reacted. He took the only weapon at his disposal, his trusty umbrella, and lunged at the perpetrator, thrusting it straightway through his abdomen, a fatal blow, killing him instantly. The car sped off. The police arrived within minutes, and determined that the deceased indeed had a concealed firearm under his coat and had intended to do my friend harm. The cops believed Dan’s story and he wasn’t charged with any crime. It was clearly a case of self-defense. There was no public outcry. Not even a story on the evening news. It was just one of those senseless deaths that occur nearly every day across this nation.

Dan-o didn’t want to mention it to me, because he thought I would be upset over a White man taking the life of a Black youth, but I reassured my friend that he had done right. I couldn’t care less whether the perpetrator was Black, White, Brown, Red or Yellow; he had no right to threaten my friend’s life. I was more than happy that Dan had survived. Now let’s turn to Ferguson, Missouri.

Lessons from Ferguson

I don’t know any of the parties involved in the Ferguson Fiasco. I’ve been to St. Louis, where I recall being warned not to venture into certain parts of town alone, but I’ve never been to Ferguson, and don’t think I’ll ever visit. The point of this post is not to pass judgment, but to glean whatever lessons we may from the tragic events surrounding the death of Michael Brown. My hope is to aid in preventing the next senseless death of perhaps one young man or woman, no matter their race.

I stand firmly against police brutality, having been a victim in the past, and I’m not afraid to call them out on it. My stomach turns every time I hear about an unjust killing, whether committed by police officers, the military or anyone else. However, at the same time, I am keenly aware that not a day passes in America without some young thug robbing, beating, kidnapping, or taking the life of an innocent victim. Sometimes they get away with it for a space, but eventually, thanks to the police, they get caught. Other times they pick on the wrong person, like old Dan, and wind up severely injured or dead.

In no way am I implying that the police are always right. Far too often they use unnecessary force, and too often they unjustly injure or take the life of an innocent victim, who is merely attempting to comply. However, there is a reason we have police officers, and there is a reason they carry firearms. With this in mind, what lessons can we learn from the Ferguson Fiasco?

Mike Brown, the young man killed by a police officer in Ferguson, committed a crime when he shoplifted a box of cigars from a local merchant, and then strong-armed one of its employees on his way out the door. The incident was caught on tape, so there’s no way it can be disputed. Now here’s a newsflash for the rabble-rousers: Stealing is wrong. That’s the Eighth Commandment for you simpletons. “Thou shalt not steal.” It’s also a Class A Misdemeanor in Missouri, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Assaulting a store clerk, or anyone else, is also a crime, punishable by anywhere from 15 days in jail and a $500 fine, up to 15 years in prison.

If you’re not aware that theft and assault are wrong, then you haven’t been brought up right. If Mike Brown wasn’t aware, then we can blame only one of two parties. His ignorance was either due to bad parenting, or his failure to obey the Fifth Commandment, which teaches us to honor our mother and father. Either Mike Brown’s parents failed to teach him right from wrong, or he disobeyed their instruction. But so far, I haven’t heard a word of edification, from any of the so-called community leaders or rabble-rousers, instructing our youth that theft and assault are wrong. These are the first lessons of the Ferguson Fiasco.

Mike Brown’s third, fourth and fifth mistakes occurred when he disobeyed the instructions of a police officer, disrespected him and ultimately struck him in the face. The truth is had Mr. Brown risen his hands from the get go, at the moment the police officer commanded him to stop; he would still be alive today. The time to put your hands up is at the moment you’re confronted by a police officer, not after insulting him or her, punching them in the face, and struggling for control of their weapon. For you simpletons, that means get your hands out of your pockets, out of your waistband, from up under your coat, drop anything you’re holding and raise both hands in the air. This is the final lesson of the Ferguson Fiasco.

Since when did it become acceptable behavior for a young man to strike a cop? If you think this is acceptable, and you choose to practice it in your own affairs, then your days will likely be short and miserable. If you are a Christian, the book of Romans, Chapter 13, versus 2-5 teaches us that police officers are appointed by God, and when we resist them, we will incur God’s judgment. It further advises that we have no reason to fear a police officer so long as we are obeying the law. However, it also warns us that if we are up to no good, we should be afraid, because they don’t carry a sidearm in vain.

“Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.”

If you’re not a Christian, then why not apply some good old common sense? The surest way to get roughed-up, injured or shot by the police is to resist them, disobey their orders, get smart with them, or even more stupidly, to walk up and strike one of them in the face. Thus far, I haven’t heard any useful lessons from so-called community leaders and rabble-rousers regarding this. Instead, they seem to be justifying Mike Brown’s behavior, while leaping to judgment against one appointed to deal with such miscreants. So here’s what I will ask them.

Is punching a police officer right or wrong? And when they seek to evade the question, I will answer it for them. It was wrong yesterday, it’s wrong today, and it will be wrong tomorrow. If you errantly choose to strike a gun-packing police officer, know that you will likely wind up in a hospital bed, or worst yet in the county morgue. Don’t do it. If a police officer orders you to put your hands in the air, on a wall or to get on the ground, if you value your own life, you best shut your mouth and do exactly what he or she says. Worry about what comes next later.

If you don’t believe any of the above, then open your ears and hear wisdom. I speak from experience. When a police officer asks you a question, answer it, and then shut your mouth. If he or she orders you to do something, do it. The same applies to judges. Click here to see what happens when you get smart with a judge. The point is when dealing with local authorities; you need to show them the utmost respect. If you don’t respect your own parents, or anyone else’s, respect the police. If you don’t respect yourself or anyone else, you had best respect a judge.

The bottom line:

We can’t bring Mike Brown back, but we can learn from the circumstances surrounding his death, and pass it on in hopes of saving the next life. If you don’t want to be a statistic, don’t commit strong-armed robbery, then punch a cop in the face and try to snatch his or her gun. Guilty or innocent, the first thing you do when confronted by the police is put your hands up. Stealing, looting and shoplifting are wrong. Threatening to cause, and/or causing bodily injury are wrong. Arson and destruction of property are wrong. Strong-armed robbery is wrong. Disobeying authorities is wrong. And, striking a police officer is a potentially fatal action. The Golden Rule should be applied in all matters. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31)

References:

Trayvon’s Fatal Mistake

Hope and Change on Ice

Paranoid LA Cops: Shoot first, use brain never.

Image via: Live Your Life – The Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln: Day 4

Passing the Buck and Taking Names | Obama’s GSA

/ L. M. Walker / Leave a comment

* By: Larry Walker, Jr. *

“Ultimately the buck stops with me… I’m going to be accountable.” ~ Barack Obama *

What a load of bull! Harry Reid’s U.S. Senate hasn’t passed a budget resolution since April 29, 2009. Barack Obama hasn’t presented a budget, at least not one acceptable to either Democrats or Republicans, since the day he set foot in office. Yet he thinks he should keep his job. But that’s not how it works in America. Obama was given a fair shot; he had his fair share of opportunities, but he chose to pass the buck, running his mouth instead of governing, and now it’s time to give someone else a shot.

U.S. Gross Domestic Product has grown by a mere 7.59% from 2007 to 2011, or at an average annual growth rate of a pathetic 1.90%. But Federal Agency spending has increased by 32.04% over the same period, or at an average annual growth rate of 8.01%. Does the fact that Agency spending outpaced the economy by 322% sound any alarms? Well if we had a chief executive who was paying attention it would. This is an outrageous, hair-raising, mind-boggling, egregious, statistical fact, yet all U.S. taxpayers have heard for the last three plus years are threat after threat of higher taxes.

‘The Bush tax cuts are out, no they’re in. The payroll tax cut is gone, no it’s back. The AMT Patch is dead, no it’s still breathing.’

And now we have to contend with yet another threat, Taxmageddon. Taxmageddon is a $494 billion tax increase that strikes at the beginning of 2013. This time it’s the largest tax increase in U.S. history, scheduled to hit us smack in the face on January 1, 2013. Under current law, tax policies in seven different categories will expire, including the Bush Tax Cuts, payroll tax cut, the AMT Patch, plus five of the 18 new tax hikes from Obamacare will begin, see Taxmageddon: Massive Tax Increase Coming in 2013.

Unusual uncertainty remains unusually uncertain.

With Taxmageddon looming, the GSA scandal is well-timed. It has undeniably exposed the truth. And the truth is that the federal government has been living large through its discretionary spending, throwing our future to the wind, while we’ve been left sitting on pins and needles. Since the economy is practically at zero growth, where do these morons think the money to pay higher taxes will come from? I find it amazing, simply amazing, that no one has been in charge of the national purse for the last three-plus years. Absolutely no one has kept tabs on how our tax dollars were spent. We deserve better.

With an estimated $6.3 Trillion borrowed and squandered on Obama’s watch, and red flags abounding, it makes me sick to my stomach that politicians are suddenly concerned. You would have to be blind or not paying any attention to federal spending whatsoever to not notice the humongous 6,896.30% increase in the GSA’s expenditures from 2007 to 2011. Why blame the GSA? Blame yourselves, or blame Obama. The buck stops with Obama, right? So fire him. Put Obama on trial.

Maybe if someone wasn’t on the golf course, on vacation, or campaigning every other week (at our expense), and instead actually took time to study the budget “line by line”, and to work with Congress on cutting and capping spending, the GSA incident wouldn’t have occurred. I call it not doing the job you were elected to do. But hindsight is 20/20; foresight is not reelecting someone who has proven he can’t handle the job.

Does the following condensed OMB table, Outlays by Agency, which compares government spending growth from 2007 to 2011, raise any flags? If you ask me, the entire record is a red flag. The General Services Administration is an obvious bell ringer, its expenditures having grown from $27 million in 2007, to over $1.8 billion in 2011, or by 6,896.30%. But it’s not the only agency that should concern us, frankly they all should.

As you scan through the following highlights, keep in mind that the entire U.S. economy grew by a mere 7.59% over the four-year period, or at average annual growth of 1.90%.

  • The Department of Agriculture’s four-year spending growth was 65.11%, with average annual growth of 16.28%. You would think they were actually growing crops or raising livestock, but we know that’s not the case, so why have annual expenditures increased by $54.9 billion? Cut it.

  • The Department of Commerce’s four-year spending growth was 53.36%, with average annual growth of 13.34%. You would think they were actually manufacturing products or providing services, but we know that’s not the case, so why have annual expenditures increased by $3.5 billion? Cut it.

  • The Department of Energy’s four-year spending growth was 55.95%, with average annual growth of 13.99%. You would think they were actually producing electricity, mining coal or drilling for oil, but we know that’s not the case, so why have annual expenditures increased by $11.3 billion? Cut it.

  • The Department of Labor’s four-year spending growth was 177.58%, with average annual growth of 44.40%. You would think they were actually performing job placement services, but we know that’s not the case, so why have annual expenditures increased by $84.4 billion? Cut it.

  • The Department of State’s four-year spending growth was 77.29%, with average annual growth of 19.32%. You would think they were annexing nations and granting Statehood, in order to increase GDP, but we know that’s not the case, so why have annual expenditures increased by $10.6 billion? Cut it.

  • The Department of Veterans Affairs’ four-year spending growth was 74.36%, with average annual growth of 18.59%. Is this sustainable on average annual GDP growth of just 1.90%? Not hardly. So why have annual expenditures increased by $54.1 billion? Cut it.

  • The Corps of Engineers–Civil Works’ four-year spending growth was 158.75%, with average annual growth of 39.69%. You would think they were actually building roads and bridges, but we know that’s not the case, so why have annual expenditures increased by $6.2 billion? Cut it.

  • The Small Business Administration’s four year spending growth was 424.51%, with average annual growth of 106.13%. You would think they were actually making loans directly to small businesses, but we know that’s not the case, so why have annual expenditures increased by $4.9 billion? Cut it.

  • The Social Security Administration’s (On-Budget) four-year spending growth was 182.82%, with average annual growth of 45.70%. On-budget spending isn’t mandated, it’s not the entitlements portion in which Social Security Taxes offset payments to retirees and those with disabilities. No, this is interest and principal repayments of previously looted funds, and coverage of shortfalls due to the payroll tax cut and other gimmicks. You would think they were actually increasing benefit checks or lowering Medicare premiums, but we know that’s not the case, so why have annual expenditures increased by $100.4 billion? Cut it.

  • Total Federal Outlays experienced four-year spending growth of 32.04%, with average annual growth of 8.01%. With that kind of spending, you would think our economy would have grown by more than 7.59% over the four-year period, and achieved far more than average annual growth of 1.90%, but we know that didn’t happen, so why have annual expenditures increased by $874.4 billion? Has the economic stimulus program of 2009 become permanent? Cut it.

  • And last but far from least, the General Services Administration’s four-year spending growth was a whopping 6,896.30%, with average annual growth of 1,724.07%. You would think they were throwing some really wicked parties, or something. Oh, it turns out that was the case! No wonder annual expenditures increased by $1.9 billion. Just cut it.

Our government is spending at a rate which is 322% greater than the underlying economy. We call this “unsustainable”. What do you call it? The egregious growth of the GSA’s expenditures should have been caught long before it became a public scandal. Has anyone in the District of Columbia been paying attention for the past three years? You would think Obama would have caught this with his vast experience running companies, governing States, and all. Oh that’s right, he doesn’t have any experience.

I just gave you $340.2 billion of simple budget cuts, while Obama refuses to acknowledge the problem. If you still don’t get it, here’s the wrap.

The economy isn’t growing. The government is spending at a rate which is 322% greater than its underlying economy. Every additional dollar of tax revenue sucked out of our stagnant economy will cause the economy to decline further, while government continues to live the high life. Since there is no additional revenue to garner, government spending must be cut. The economy was on fire in 2007 on dramatically less government spending. Therefore, returning to the budget of 2007 damages nothing, other than Obama’s plan to bankrupt the nation. If Obama isn’t trying to bankrupt the USA, then what is he doing?

Fire Obama! Cut government spending. Cut the B.S. Cut it big. And cut it now!

References:

Table 4.1—Outlays by Agency: 1962–2017

BEA—Gross Domestic Product and Personal Income

Spreadsheets

Give Me a Tax Cut, or Give Me Death II

/ L. M. Walker / 8 Comments

Small Business Tax & Toil

By: Larry Walker, Jr.

Small business owners, like myself, pay twice as much in Social Security and Medicare Taxes as regular employees. Yet when we ask for a payroll tax cut on our own pay, what we get from the government is a crackdown on regional banks to give us more loans. Aside from the fact that 140 of these banks have failed since January 16, 2009 (here), what Obama’s Cluelessian economists fail to understand is that wealth is not created through amassing debt.

If Obama wants to run the Federal Government based on the myth that wealth is created through debt, that’s one thing, but his attempt to sell this ideal to small business owners like myself makes him look inept. Small businesses are already in debt. Adding more debt does not translate directly into increased sales, but rather into higher monthly principal and interest payments (aka. ‘paying current expenses out of future income’). It’s one thing to borrow money to start a venture, or to secure lines of credit for working capital, but it’s entirely another to pile debt upon debt in a degenerating economy.

Wealth is created by increasing sales of products and services while maintaining or reducing expenses. Bankruptcy is achieved through maintaining or increasing expenses in the face of declining revenue. It is a fact, not a theory, that Obama’s reckless economic policies will lead to the latter.

So what is the Small Business solution? What could possibly help small business owners survive in the face of a colossal governmental failure? A payroll tax cut for one. And what is it that justifies a payroll tax cut for small business owners? As I pointed out in Part I, small business owners pay an unfair burden of Social Security and Medicare Taxes, and we receive nothing in return. By nothing, I mean that we will receive the same benefits as regular workers after having paid twice the amount of payroll taxes (see the chart below).

Click To Enlarge

What we are asking for is fair. What we are asking for is economic justice. We want the Federal Government to stop unfairly burdening small businesses with an unjust burden of payroll taxes with no corresponding benefit. All we want back is some of our own hard earned money, produced from our own toil, in order to improve the future economic outlook of our communities and our nation.

If we get our desired tax cut, what will small business owners do? We will have been aided in paying our bills, in reducing our current debt, in not having to lay off additional workers, and in having survived for another day. And we will have done so with our own money, and not through a government handout.

Who will die? When I say, “give me a tax cut, or give me death”, it won’t be me or my fellow entrepreneurs who die. The first casualty will be the next laid off employee, and eventually the Federal Government. Every employee we lay off leads to negative government revenue, and reduced GDP. Most of us can scale back on spending and survive, but one can only cut so much before creditors are jeopardized. The Federal Government is well on the road that leads to death.

We will survive, but will the Federal Government? Small businesses have been cutting back on spending in the face of the economic decline. The Federal Government, on the other hand, has been increasing its debt. If Obama’s incompetent economic theory leads to the bankruptcy of the United States government, then that is just a natural consequence of spending more than annual revenue, year after year. Eventually the principal and interest payments will surpass revenue. But that’s Obama’s plan and not the road for me. As for me,

Give me a tax cut, or give me death!

—

Tips: 5 Ways To Manage Business Debt

Give Me a Tax Cut, or Give Me Death!

/ L. M. Walker / 5 Comments

Small Business Tax & Toil

By: Larry Walker, Jr.

I have been contemplating all the blood, sweat, and tears shed by Small Business owners such as myself. Having been in business for the past 9 years, I have come to the realization that:

  1. I am paying a hell of a lot in Taxes (and government mandated fees), and

  2. I am feeling mighty underappreciated.

The Federal Government, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, chose to give a Social Security tax cut, the Making Work Pay Credit, to workers making under $75,000 per year. That’s all well and fine, but what about the Small Businesses who pay those wages? Small Business Owners have to pay double the amount of Social Security and Medicare taxes on our own pay, plus a matching amount on what we pay our employees.

As the owner of an S-Corporation, in order to write myself a paycheck I am hit with 25% in Federal Withholding Taxes, 15.3% for Social Security and Medicare (since as an owner-employee both halves come out of the same pocket), 5% for State Withholding Taxes and Federal and State Unemployment Taxes. Excluding Unemployment Taxes, I have to withhold and pay in 45.3% of my pay every month. On top of that, since I have employees, I also have to match 7.65% of their pay for Social Security and Medicare Taxes.

As a side note, I also have to pay County business license fees, Federal and State license fees, County property taxes, State Sales Taxes, Federal Excise taxes on telephone, cell phone and internet usage, interest and principal payments on a Federal SBA loan and other business debts, professional liability insurance, health insurance, matching retirement contributions, etc. … and then the actual operating expenses. When it’s all said and done, in return for my contribution to society, I get to keep about 20% of my gross income (toil). But lets just keep the focus here on Social Security, Medicare, and Income Taxes.

As an example, let’s say I have to write gross pay checks for myself and my employees of $8,000 per month. And let’s say $5,000 of that is for me, and the other $3,000 is for two employees. In order to pay myself $5,000 I have to set aside $2,265 for taxes ($5,000 * 45.3% = $2,265). In order to pay my employees $3,000 I have to set aside an extra $229.50 ($3,000 * 7.65% = $229.50) to match Social Security and Medicare.

So to summarize my gross pay started out at $5,000, but my net take home pay wound up being only just $3,117.50 (see the chart below). In the end, I have spent a total of $8,612.00. My employees took home $2,770.50, I took home $3,117.50, and the Government took home $2,724.00.

click to enlarge

When times are good and I can afford to take a full paycheck I have to fork over 45.3% of my earnings to the Government. When times are tough and I can’t afford to pay myself a full paycheck I still have to fork over 45.3% of my earnings to the Government. And when the business makes a profit, the Government will be standing there laying claim to another 30% or more of my toils (25% Federal Taxes and 5% State Taxes).

And now the Federal Government, through the Senate’s Health Care Bill, is proposing to:

  • Add an Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans

  • Burden us with Employer Reporting of Health Insurance Costs on W-2 Forms

  • Hike Taxes on Health Savings Account Withdrawals by 10%

  • Raise the “Haircut” for Medical Itemized Deductions from 7.5% to 10% of AGI

(See How Does the Reid-Obama Health Bill Raise Taxes on Your Current Health Plan?).

If there is any common sense at all in Washington D.C., Congress and the President will realize that Small Businesses employ most of America, and that Small Business owners pay an unfair burden of Social Security and Medicare Taxes. And we receive nothing in return. By nothing I mean that business owners do not get double the Social Security and Medicare benefits for paying twice what the average worker pays into the system. When liberals start whining about tax cuts for the rich, perhaps they should try standing in the shoes of a small business owner. They would not last a week. They would die from their own complaining.

Do Small Business Owners deserve tax relief? You’re damned right! What can you do about it in Washington D.C.? Well, if you want Small Businesses to spend more, hire more, and stop the lay offs, then stop squeezing us.

  1. Give small business Owners an immediate tax cut of 50% of the Social Security and Medicare Taxes on the wages that they pay themselves. This is not only fair, but it would be just that simple.

  2. Or, if you really want to be fair, then give us a 50% tax cut on the Social Security and Medicare Taxes on all the wages that we have paid so far this year. It’s time to act.

Give me a tax cut, or give me death!

The CBO and Our Common Welfare

/ L. M. Walker / 2 Comments

This blog post was inspired today by comments made during Obama’s town hall event in Colorado. Here are the tweets that inspired this research:

Obama said, “Despite all the scare tactics out there, what is truly scary is if we do nothing.”

I said, “Isn’t this a scare tactic?”

Obama said, “Spread the word, knock on doors, to help enact his health coverage plan.”

I said, “It might help if he actually had a plan, no?”

Obama said, “Health care costs are the biggest part of federal deficit and debt?”

I said, “Defense and interest on the debt are right behind.”

Obama again states: “Nobody is talking about a government takeover of health care.”

I said, “Nobody as in Congress via H.R. 3200?”

My summary of Obama’s town hall meeting is this: “Let’s all get behind this idea of spending money that we don’t have, on a reform plan that hasn’t been written.”

Afterwards I watched the following CBO webcast, The Long-Term Budget Outlook, and studied the cost projections for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Interest on the Debt. After all of this, I am convinced that our government is on the wrong track.

Link to CBO Video

The issue should not be how to include more people in entitlements while cutting costs (an impossible feat). But rather how to create incentives to make people more self-sufficient so that they will not need to depend on the government? In other words, the focus needs to be on reducing the number of people covered by government entitlements, reducing government size and spending, and increasing government revenue to extinguish the debt.

In Mortimer Zuckerman’s USA Today column entitled, “The Coming Government Debt Bomb” [Spending must be cut, or surging deficit could leave U.S. deep in the red for years], he states the following:

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reckons that the deficit will run for a decade and will still exceed $1.2 trillion in 2019. By that time, the United States will have virtually doubled its national debt, to over $17 trillion. Then, after 2019, we get another turn of the screw as the peak waves of baby boomers move into their retirement years and costs soar for the major entitlements, Social Security and Medicare.

At 41 percent of GDP in 2008, the accumulated federal debt will rise to 82 percent by 2019. One out of every 6 dollars spent then by the feds will go to interest, compared with 1 in 12 dollars last year. These out-year budgets will require an increase in everyone’s income taxes, raising federal income taxes an average of $11,000 for families, a hike of 55 percent per household—a political impossibility. The Government Accountability Office estimates that by 2040, interest payments will absorb 30 percent of all revenues and entitlements will consume the rest, leaving nothing for defense, education, or veterans’ pensions.

I know you don’t want to hear about private savings accounts versus Social Security. And you probably don’t want to hear about high deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts. But the alternative being peddled by the Obama Administration and Congress is to increase government debt until it actually exceeds what our economy can produce in a year.

In other words they would rather bankrupt the United States, than face the fact that government cannot provide for the health and retirement needs of the people. And that’s the bottom line – the government cannot provide for the health and retirement needs of any but the most needy. Come to think of it, seems to me that was the original plan.

I realize that this is counter to the Biden-Obamanomics view that, “we need to spend more to keep from going bankrupt,” but I live on planet earth. The track being followed by this government will create a new problem, i.e. what do we pay or not pay this month. A bankrupt government would create a more serious crisis than any we have ever faced. Listen to the hearing, read the legislation, study the numbers, and see what you think.

“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for life.”

We can do this on our own if our government would get out of the way, and simply provide us with the incentives to provide for ourselves.

The bottom line on Obama’s non-existent health care/insurance reform ‘plan’ – show us the ‘plan’ you are talking about, or stop talking.