HOW TO BRING AMERICA BACK FROM ECONOMIC RUIN

By Attorney Jonathan Emord
Author of "The Rise of Tyranny" and "Global Censorship of Health Information"
August 15, 2011
NewsWithViews.com

No one in political leadership has the courage to present a clear plan for achieving a balanced budget and restoring American solvency. They know that doing so will offend major constituencies. They also know that not doing so will destroy the United States. They are willing to risk the destruction of this nation so long as it occurs after their terms in office. What they do not yet appreciate is that their inaction offends the vast majority of Americans and that before the nation comes tumbling down, its political leaders will suffer ignominy and defeat.

In truth there is no way that the federal government can continue spending at the present rate without causing financial markets to collapse, without reigniting inflation, without causing ever rising rates of unemployment, and without bringing a halt to most federal government operations. While I would celebrate the last of these effects, I do not relish the notion that in a very short time we will be in the throes of a deep and long depression and I do not relish the notion of a chaotic and haphazard destruction of the government.

There is a way out of this mess, but getting there requires political courage and vision. President Obama has proven that he is incapable of exercising true leadership and, oddly, I am grateful for that because I loathe the state takeover of private enterprise that he finds so appealing. The leadership in the House and Senate has likewise proven itself incapable of leading. Without voting those rascals out, there is little hope that we will take America back from the brink. Instead, the leaderless nation on autopilot will accelerate into economic destruction.

In the midst of what may well be the greatest threat to the survival of the nation, those in power appear impotent. That impotence presents an opportunity for one with courage and vision to save the nation.

Consider the following approach that, if adopted now, would not only produce a balanced budget but would also create a sufficient budget surplus to permit elimination of the personal income tax while still maintaining a balanced budget (indeed, even permitting payment on the national debt). In short, we can within a very short time reverse the present course and raise the nation, Phoenix-like, out of this mess and into global financial leadership.

The national debt stands at $14.5 trillion and will reach about $25 trillion in just eight years. The nation’s unfunded liabilities for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security stand at $61 trillion; they will grow by trillions of dollars every year as the population eligible for these entitlements doubles in the next decade. Total 2011 federal revenues are $2.57 trillion and expenditures are $3.83 trillion, adding $1.27 trillion to the national debt. Projected deficits into the foreseeable future are all in excess of $1.2 trillion.

Changing this dismal outlook requires substantial cuts in spending, i.e., cuts that exceed the $1.27 deficit for 2011 and beyond so that sufficient funds are available to pay down the enormous $14.5 trillion debt that will be $17 trillion this coming year. Indeed, within the next two decades the cost of just social security, Medicaid, and Medicare will consume all discretionary spending, outstripping federal revenues by tens of trillions of dollars. Keeping social security, Medicaid, and Medicare “as we know itâ€