It was pointed out that the link does not work for some. Here is the op-ed piece that I wrote. I want America to succeed, not fail.
To the editor:
My Fellow Voters:
I feel the reason we elect people to represent us in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives is not for a local issue, or a pet initiative. Don’t we really elect them to solve national problems? To address the most pressing problems facing the nation today?
Our most pressing problem is one of a fiscal nature. Our debt has exploded to over 100 percent of Gross Domestic product (GDP). This debt is a burden, not only applying to our present fellow citizens, but our as yet unborn children as well.
Current debt for every man, woman, and child in our country at present is approximately $48,000. For a family of four, that is $192,000. That $192,000.00 would buy any family in North Dakota a very fine home.
Now, as a family unit, you understand there is a problem.
Family budget:
Debt: $192,000
Budgeted expenses: $37,000
Potential Income: $24,600
Difference between income and expenses: $12,400
Putting this in Federal Format:
Debt: $17,000.000.000,000 (current debt ceiling)
Budgeted Expenses: $3,700,000,000,000
Potential Income: $2,460,000,000,000
Difference between income and expenses: $1,240,000,000,000
You realize that your credit card is maxed out. Well, it is so maxed out that you can’t even pay the interest on your debt. Looking in the mirror, as a parent, you think: “My family is in serious trouble. I know I can’t go to the bank for more money. I can’t even pay the loan that I have now! I can’t even budget to pay interest on the loans that the bank has given us! What can I do to rectify this untenable problem?”
Sitting down with your family, stern look on your face, you explain the above to them. Knowing that you can’t continue to increase your spending, as no bank is going to lend you money, you mutually come to a decision.
1. WE have to FREEZE our spending. We will still eat, have a roof over our heads and drive our present vehicle. The important things in life will be taken care off.
2. WE have to INCREASE our revenue. Discussing this with your children, and knowing that you will miss a few ball games, etc., you all decide that one parent is going to find another part-time job. You expect that job to bring in enough revenue that within five years you will at least be able to MEET expenses.
3. At the end of that five years, you will concentrate on paying some of the accumulated debt off to regain a strong financial footing so that when opportunities present themselves, the family unit can take advantage of that opportunity.
On a Federal level how can we do this?
1. Freeze spending at $3.7 trillion. The family can do it, our ELECTED representatives can do it.
2. Increase revenue by one percent of GDP per year for the next five years. That part-time job. This will require a slight change in living, but in the long run will bring a sense of economic freedom to that family again, instead of being shackled to debt.
By freezing debt at $3.7 trillion, assuming a three percent annual growth rate in GDP and achieving a one percent increase of revenue as a percent of GDP, in five years our budget will be balanced.
The long-term GDP growth from 1949-2009 is three point two percent. The result of having a federal plan in place to address the current debt problem will result in at least another one percent growth to GDP just on this assurance.
This is a win-win for everyone. There will be funds available to repay our debt to the
Social Security trust fund as required and address the need for a new car by then.
Freezing spending at $3.7 TRILLION will not result in draconian cuts. $3.7 TRILLION
is a sum so large that it is hard to imagine. Well, as an added tool, $3.7 trillion is
$422,374,429.22 each and every hour of the year. Four hundred twenty-two million, three
hundred seventy-four thousand, four hundred twenty-nine and twenty-two cents.
Are there checks made wide enough to print this every hour of the year? It is time for our great folks running for elected office to speak as adults, act as adults, and get the job done as adults. We can no longer accept excuses, only results. We are all one large family and need to address this as such.