Congress is starting to debate the issue of the debt ceiling, which now stands at $16.8 Trillion. The current debt ceiling will be reached by September 30, 2013. What should congress do about it? What will happen if congress does not increase the debt ceiling?
The fear mongers tell us government will shut down if the debt ceiling is not increased. Government will not shut down, but not raising the debt ceiling will force spending cuts. Some of those spending cuts will hurt, other cuts will not even be noticed with respect to the things that matter to America. With respect to cuts that will hurt, Americans have clearly stated they are willing to make some sacrifices. They made that statement loudly, by sending members of congress to Washington who promised to cut spending, balance the budget and refuse to raise the debt ceiling.
If those members of congress do not keep their promises to cut spending, balance the budget, and they agree to raise the debt ceiling, they lied to Americans and should not be re-elected to congress. To their credits, some of them are looking for spending cuts; sponsoring bills that will never pass both The House and The Senate.
Spending cuts that are the focus of futile legislation will be forced if the debt ceiling is not raised. If members of congress who promised to not raise the debt ceiling keep that promise, they will also keep their promises to cut spending and force a balanced budget.
For example, there is a movement in congress to defund Obamacare. Legislation to defund Obamacare will never pass in The Senate and there are not enough votes to override a presidential veto if The Senate managed to eek out enough votes. Why not just refuse to increase the debt ceiling? There will be no money to fund Obamacare. If the debt ceiling is not raised, there will be no money to implement Obamacare and no money to launch a 2014 advertising campaign for Obamacare, costing $700 million dollars.
When the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was passed, we were told it would save money. Now we are being told it will cost money. It has not yet been implemented and it is already set to receive a $700 million bailout in the form of a promotion campaign. The fact that it needs a promotional campaign is a clear indication that success of the Act is doomed.
We were initially told that much of the cost of Obamacare would be paid from savings that would be generated by ending fraud in Medicare and Medicaid. We are approaching two years after that claim was made and there is no evidence that fraud is being eliminated in either of the aforementioned programs. So, where does the cost of that unrecognized savings come from to pay for Obamacare?
The glaring question is; why should ending fraud in Medicare, Medicaid, or any other government program, be tied to paying for any other program? If there is fraud in any government program, the perpetrators should be prosecuted. Money saved from ending fraud in any government program should be used to effect a balanced budget and pay down the national debt.
By the way, a balanced budget is not the answer. There must be a surplus generated by America to pay down the national debt. America will have to generate more revenue than expenses to ever pay off the national debt. After we do manage to pay off the national debt from surpluses, continue to generate those surpluses and pay for a healthcare program. That actually makes sense.
It's time for congress to realize that they must run the government within the constraints of the money that is generated from revenues. Borrowing money is not the answer. The budget must be balanced now and we must find a way to generate surpluses in the future to pay off the $16.8 Trillion we now owe.
Republican Congressman Paul Ryan presented a budget that would be balanced about 18 years in the future. At the time he presented that budget he was a running for Vice President of The United States. Assume he had been elected to that office in 2012 and re-elected to it in 2016. Then assume he were elected to the Presidency in 2020 and re-elected in 2024.
The budget he presented would not be balanced for a couple of years after his second term as President. His administrations would still have generated deficit spending, under his own budget plan. Paul Ryan was not even willing to hold his own feet to the fire with respect to government spending.
Of course, he did offer a budget that balances, somewhere in the future. The Democrats have not presented a budget that balances at any time in the future. In fact, the democrats have not presented a budget for the past three or four years and is offering nothing in the foreseeable future.
Congress is attempting to run the country on "continuing resolutions", a term that means, "we have no idea what to do". Along with those continuing resolutions congress continues to raise the debt ceiling to pay for them. There is no end in sight to this practice. Congress shows no interest in addressing the issues that will eventually be addressed by bankruptcy of The United States.
We the people are being played for fools by every member of congress. Of course, our votes to re-elect these people to congress shows that we are willing to be the fools. It's time to end the foolishness. Some argue that we have the final word at the ballot box when members of congress are up for re-election. Those who believe that are living in fantasy land.
Yes, we can vote members of congress out of office after they do damage to America. We still have to live with their mistakes after they are voted out of office. Hindsight may be 20/20 with respect to seeing mistakes made by congress, but the pain of that 20/20 hindsight is is felt long into the future. Right now America has a $16.8 trillion debt and 20/20 hindsight as to what caused this debt.
Our children's grandchildren, and generations beyond will inherit that debt. Do you really want to make them pay? Members of congress have no issue passing our current problems on to future generations.
Congress is .0000004% of the American vote. It is time for a Constitutional Amendment that will give all voters the right to vote on legislation before it is enacted. Online Majority is a movement to give us that right to the online vote. We must have a way to protect ourselves and future generations of Americans with a majority vote on legislation.
Think of all you do online now. Voting online is long overdue and having the final word on legislation before it is enacted is long overdue as well. It is time we fight for the right to let a majority of Americans be the final word on legislation, before it is enacted.
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