Democrats, Republicans, Boobus Americanus and the National Debt.

An article in the New York Times about the Federal Deficit was sad and difficult reading. The article, Party Gridlock in Washington Feeds Fear of a Debt Crisis, is yet another sad and sorry tale about the grim financial situation the country has allowed it self to fall into. According to the Times,

"After decades of warnings that budgetary profligacy, escalating health care costs and an aging population would lead to a day of fiscal reckoning, economists and the nation’s foreign creditors say that moment is approaching faster than expected, hastened by a deep recession that cost trillions of dollars in lost tax revenues and higher spending for safety-net programs."

We are rapidly reaching a fiscal tipping point. Entitlement programs and interest on the Federal Debt will soon make it impossible for the government to fund any type of program. This problem is further exacerbated by political gridlock in Washington. The Republicans feel they can return to power as long as they refuse to raise taxes. The Democrats are losing power because they refuse to take the radical social measures necessary to change, such as cutting entitlement benefits. Then there is "Boobus Americanus", the average dull-witted American, who wants wars, empire, Medicare, Social Security and a myriad of other governement services, yet refuses to pay for these services.

We are As the Roman historian Livy said “finally began the downward plunge which has brought us to the present time, when we can endure neither our vices or their cure” ). So Federal Government is rapidly approaching a point where it can neither endure the consequences of the rapidly increasing federal debt or effect some cure for it.

The solution requires compromise and the willingness to sacrifice the good of a particular faction for the good of the country. Will the Republicans or the Democrats or Boobus Americanus be willing to come together to make such sacrifices in the form of HIGHER TAXES AND LOWER GOVERNMENT BENEFITS?. I don't know.

Capitano Tedeschi

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