The White House's wish almost came true last week. It was hoping most
of us and even the mainstream media would miss the release of the
Congressional Budget Office's preliminary report on the 2010 federal
fiscal year. And most did.
The Wall Street Journal,
however, exposed why the White House was being so secretive about its
results: The CBO concluded that federal government spending has
skyrocketed 21.4 percent in just the last two years since President
Obama took office!
Their actions remind me of President Ronald Reagan's words, "We
could say they spend money like drunken sailors, but that would be
unfair to drunken sailors. It would be unfair, because the sailors are
spending their own money."
It's no new revelation that Washington has lost its way from our
founders' vision and fiscal frugality. But in the last two years, it has
become a financial runaway train. And it is only we, the people, who can save it from completely derailing our country and all of us onboard.
In part 1 last week, I discussed the first five steps to regain control of Washington's insane spending and rebuild America's economy. Though I encourage readers who didn't to read the details, to refresh our memories on the general points:
First, Washington should immediately stop any thought, form or
legislation that leads to more federal borrowing or bailouts – no
exceptions.
Second, Washington should downsize the federal government by
enacting tough spending caps and making across-the-board mandatory 10
percent cuts – no exceptions.
Third, Washington should immediately revise the 2011 federal
budget to align with those priority reductions and eliminate absolutely
all earmarks – no exceptions.
Fourth, Washington should engage in only non-debt building actions and legislation that will immediately encourage Main Street
and augment entrepreneurial incentives, including a commitment to never
increase taxes for anyone for any reason but cut more taxes, which will
provide immediate relief and increase revenues for everyone.
Fifth, Washington should discuss ways to encourage and equip
interstate commerce and more collaboration among neighboring states,
counties and communities to brainstorm their own solutions to increase
revenue and productivity in their own local regions.
Sixth, we the people should hold Washington representatives
accountable to our founders' fiscal prudence and federal frugalities
both by our vote and their passing and living under a constitutional
amendment for a balanced federal budget, which will require them to live
within their
means. A balanced budget amendment will also cut up Big
Daddy's credit card in Washington with its unlimited credit limit.
Seventh, because we the people need to assure
our future economic stability and growth, we should seek to elect (or
re-elect) only successors of the fiscally sound representatives who will
show proof of fiscal discipline, demonstrate a pay-as-you-go lifestyle
and leadership, refuse under all circumstances to increase our national
deficit and debts, disdain special interests, commit to live under a
constitutional amendment for a balanced budget, understand how to grow
jobs and the economy and are willing to make the most difficult of
economic decisions.
We need to elect only leaders who will slash government spending and
refuse to pay for programs that we cannot afford. We all must fight
(once and for all) to elect fiscally prudent politicians like our
founders, those like Thomas Jefferson, who brought down the national
deficit though making the Louisiana Purchase and engaging the U.S. in a
war with Tripoli.
Jefferson's warning about government debt and taxes is more apropos now than ever before:
To preserve [the] independence [of the people,] we must
not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our
election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we
run into such debts as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our
drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our
amusements, for our callings and our creeds, as the people of England are, our people,
like them, must come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, give
the earnings of fifteen of these to the government for their debts and
daily expenses, and the sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread,
we must live, as they now do, on oatmeal and potatoes, have no time to
think, no means of calling the mismanagers to account, but be glad to
obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the
necks of our fellow-sufferers.
This brings me to my eighth critical step in reigning in and controlling the federal government's spending and rebuilding America's economy. We must return to a pay-as-you-go government and nation. It's our last resort for an out-of-control economy and people.
As Thomas Jefferson even once said there: "[T]he maxim of buying
nothing but what we had money in our pockets to pay for; [is] a maxim
which, of all others, lays the broadest foundation for happiness."
In a television interview a while ago, I explained that, if we are going to reawaken and rebuild America, we also have to
return to our founders' principles, which includes their fiscal
prudence. How do we do that? By doing in the federal government what
most of us have already done in our homes. We cap our spending, allow
the supply-and-demand levels to drop lower to points commensurate with
our incomes (not credit lines), while we seek ways to increase
productivity and revenue without going further into debt. But we first
must learn to downsize and live within our means.
We must slash
spending, reduce our budgets, pay down our debts and stabilize our
households and nation. Again, it's not economic rocket science, but it
will take discipline – tough, tough discipline.
There are only two things that are going to get us out of this
particular financial mess, and "only Americans" (not "only government"
as Obama believes) can implement those solutions. Both come down to one
word: restraint. We must restrain our government, and we must restrain
ourselves from needing their carrots and handouts. Feeding the money
monster (greed) will not reduce its size. It will perpetuate the
problem. We must tame the money monster. We must return it to its cage.
We must return to a time when we put a bridle on the spending of
government and our homes. We've got to simplify our lives. We've got to
learn to be happier with less. We've got to get out of debt.
Friends, it's not too late, but the window is closing fast. We
likely have one more chance to drop our partisan divides and elect only
those who will be strict constitutionalists and preservers of our
founders' vision, principles and fiscal prudence, before the entire
American economy and government collapses. As the new film, "Battle for America with Dick Morris," documents that America is in a crisis, Americans are angry, and Washington is awaking a sleeping giant – we, the people!
And we patriots need to reawaken our friends and neighbors to
vote, as I called on Americans to do in even my recent comical
production, "Trigger the Vote!"
For a voter guide detailing where candidates in your state stand on issues and the pros and cons of key propositions, click here.
Most of all, we, patriots, need to fight with all our might to
assure the election of those across this land on Nov. 2 who firmly
believe as Ronald Reagan did that "Government is not the solution to our
problem – government is our problem."
(I also encourage everyone to check out the trailers to the new patriotic films playing near you, "I want your money" and "Battle for America.")