Tuesday - June 07, 2011

Stop The Madness Already

U.S. funding for future promises lags by trillions

[ USA Today ]

The federal government’s financial condition deteriorated rapidly last year, far beyond the $1.5 trillion in new debt taken on to finance the budget deficit, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

The government added $5.3 trillion in new financial obligations in 2010, largely for retirement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. That brings to a record $61.6 trillion the total of financial promises not paid for.

This gap between spending commitments and revenue last year equals more than one-third of the nation’s gross domestic product.

Medicare alone took on $1.8 trillion in new liabilities, more than the record deficit prompting heated debate between Congress and the White House over lifting the debt ceiling.

Social Security added $1.4 trillion in obligations, partly reflecting longer life expectancies. Federal and military retirement programs added more to the financial hole, too.
Corporations would be required to count these new liabilities when they are taken on — and report a big loss to shareholders. Unlike businesses, however, Congress postpones recording spending commitments until it writes a check.

The $61.6 trillion in unfunded obligations amounts to $534,000 per household. That’s more than five times what Americans have borrowed for everything else — mortgages, car loans and other debt. It reflects the challenge as the number of retirees soars over the next 20 years and seniors try to collect on those spending promises.

“The (federal) debt only tells us what the government owes to the public. It doesn’t take into account what’s owed to seniors, veterans and retired employees,” says accountant Sheila Weinberg, founder of the Institute for Truth in Accounting, a Chicago-based group that advocates better financial reporting. “Without accurate accounting, we can’t make good decisions.”

Michael Lind, policy director at the liberal New America Foundation’s economic growth program, says there is no near-term crisis for federal retirement programs and that economic growth will make these programs more affordable.

“The false claim that Social Security and Medicare are about to bankrupt the United States has been repeated for decades by conservatives and libertarians who pretend that their ideological opposition to these successful and cost-effective programs is based on worries about the deficit,” he says.

Bring home our troops; let the world handle it’s own problems for once. Park the Navy off the coast of Haifa, guard the Suez Canal. Burn Somalia to the ground after sinking every little boat within 200 miles of it’s coastline. Co-opt the railways for a short while and issue the order to fix bayonets: clear out at least 10 million illegals. Then guard the borders and the coasts. Keep the ones who pick lettuce, but that’s about it. Americans need those jobs. Simplify the tax system and cut the IRS down to about 500 unarmed employees. Throw out every union in every branch of government and renegotiate every job. Your government worker paycheck just got cut by 40% and your benefits halved. Now start the government layoffs: 3/4 of everyone goes, period. Many many federal departments are simply going to be disbanded, period. Being a member of the federal legislature is now a $50,000 a year job, with legal endemnities: to get the job you pledge your assets and your sacred honor. Screw it up - as in not making a budget on time that comes in 25% under the revenue curve, Tweeting pictures of you wee-wee, introducing blatantly unconstitutional bills, taking bribes, etc - and you loose your job and your assets and you go to jail. Give up the War on Drugs: legalize marijuana, and make it a capital offense to be in possession of cocaine in any form, opiates, LSD, methamphetamines, and several other “designer” drugs. Wait, that’s not “giving up” is it, it’s “winning” ... which is something America has mostly forgotten how to do when it comes to wars. Time to learn.

And that’s just a start.

We have allowed Limited Government to morph into an all devouring monster that has eroded most of our rights and has spent us into a nearly bottomless pit. Stop the madness. We need to climb out of that if we can. Maybe we can’t, but we have to make a 50 year attempt. Starting today.

Posted by Drew458     on 06/07/2011 at 07:41 AM   
Filed Under: • Government •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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