The Federal Debt

Read it and weep. This is what all the angry rhetoric has been about for the last week. It is not a pretty picture, and according to many, will not get any better looking anytime soon. I try to stay away from politics as much as possible, but this issue is too big, too important to ignore. I truly believe if Congress does not get this right you and I will experience the effects within two years and our country will have changed forever.

What is unsettling to me are comments by Harry Reid, D- Nevada and Chuck Schumer, D- New York regarding a balanced budget amendment. Both men think a balanced budget amendment is an outlandish request with Schumer actually referring to the idea as poison pills.

As I prepare to pay more taxes, higher interest rates and higher prices, one thing I am not prepared to do is give those who can not even think on the idea of a balanced budget more money. I think this is just one more example of how truly out of touch those in DC are. They share none of our burdens and will be exempt from most of the hardships we are about to endure.

A deal will get done; it will not be a deal America needs. It will not be a deal you and I need. It will be a deal that empowers those with power all the more. Will we forget come election time? I hope not because part of the responsibility for this lies at our feet. We have short term memories, easily forgetting those who said one thing and voted for another.

There is a plan that is rooted in this idea of a balanced budget; it is known as the "One Percent Spending Reduction Act or “The Mack Penny Plan.” Rep. Connie Mack explains:

“It’s a bill that says to Congress that you’ll have to cut 1 percent – or one penny – out of every federal dollar for six years,” he explained.

“At a time when so many in our nation are hurting financially, the federal government needs to do its part to cut spending,” added Mack. “The Penny Plan is a straightforward answer to our nation’s overspending problem that asks government to eliminate only one penny from every dollar it spends — a simple solution that all Americans can rally behind. Every time Washington spends more money, our freedom and security are in jeopardy. Voters have continually said ‘enough is enough’ when it comes to Washington’s appetite for spending, and it is time Congress listens."

Do you think this plan will get consideration? I don't either because it makes too much sense. Join me in praying that Congress will do something different this time and think of the country first. If they don't and continue the same pattern I fear our lives will change forever. What we now take for granted... a gallon of gas for the lawn mower, a trip to the beach, a quiet weekend away will all be past memories of ours and distant memories of our children.

Remember the names in the news this weekend. Repeat them often and attach them to what is taking place because, come election time, we must not forget. If we do, we will only have ourselves to blame... again. Blessings!