It’s time to be scared straight.
Let’s pick a middle class home in Tyler at random and eavesdrop on the conversation taking place inside between husband and wife.
HIM: “Honey, we need to rein it in. We talk about it every year before the holiday season begins and we promise that we’re going to keep a lid on things at Christmas but then we each go out and see just one more thing and we reach for the plastic and boom. We’ve spent money. We still have credit card balances from last Christmas. It’s gotta stop.”
HER: “You’re right, dear. But just cutting back at Christmas isn’t going to do it. We have to stop spending so much money all through the year. Do you realize how much money we waste?”
HIM: “Well, I kinda thought about it now and then but you know our portfolio looked good and our 401(k)s were in good shape and we’re both making good money so I never worried too much about it.”
HER: “Well, guess what, honey. It’s time to worry.”
HIM: “I know. I can cut back to golf on alternate weekends.”
HER: “And I can cut back on the manicures and the pedicures.”
HIM: “And let’s go to the store and buy some food and for once in our lives, actually use the kitchen. We paid for it, for crying out loud. We spend a fortune going out and we’re putting on weight doing it. We can still go out. But for goodness sake, not every night.”
HER: “And I have a closet full of clothes that I never wear because I’m always buying new outfits.”
HIM: “That’s my girl, You know, if we do all of this, we’ll look up and we won’t owe any money on our credit cards and we’ll feel a whole lot better because we’ll be in the best financial shape we’ve been in since we got married. Whaddaya think?”
HER: “I’m in!”
There. See how easy it is. Rational people make a commitment to fiscal responsibility and in a matter of minutes, they’re on the path to financial strength.
So, why are we in so much trouble?
Two things jumped out of the speaker for me in Wednesday’s final presidential debate. They were both from John McCain. The first was McCain asking Obama why he wants to raise anyone’s taxes and the second was McCain saying that the federal government has grown by 40 percent in the past eight years.
Forty percent? Has your income gone up 40 percent? Are you able to spend 40 percent more each month and make ends meet? Forty percent?
Responsible societies elect responsible government. So, in light of out-of-control spending growth in our government, what does that make us?
Well I’ll tell you. It makes us the same people that have been buying today’s goodies on tomorrow’s income. The same people that have allowed the buying of Middle East oil with money we borrow from China. The same people that have said nothing as the Congress doubled the national debt while we doubled the balances on our MasterCards. The same people who don’t even blink when candidates for president from both parties promise billions of dollars worth of new programs, when we know that the money to pay for them will be confiscated from the paychecks of our grandchildren.
America was at its strongest when it was self-sufficient and paid for things in cash.
That works for a family budget. It will work for a federal budget.
Memo to John McCain. Put a fork in you, you’re done. If you want to have any prayer of pulling it out in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, try this.
Go on TV and say;
“My friends, as this campaign draws to a close I am withdrawing every promise I’ve made except for this. I will do everything in my power to keep your taxes low and I will do everything in my power to make America financially self-sufficient. I’ll get the government out of the way of energy exploration and production. I’ll do everything I can to keep it off your back, too. I’ll veto spending bills again and again and again until they are fiscally sound and in your best interest. Interest groups of every stripe are going to hate me but by God, they’re going to respect me. That’s it, my friends. No new programs. No handouts. And no more money out of your wallet. You need that money to pay off your own bills. So, let’s get strong together.”
What do you think? Does he have your vote now?
Paul,
I certainly can’t disagree with your closing statement, but I just don’t know if that is the root of the problem and I don’t know that John McCain is “done”.
As I look at the skewed polls (a recent one polled 873 Democrats and 650 Republicans) and only see a 2% spread between the two candidates, it leads me to believe McCain is alive and well.
I really don’t know that I wouldn’t lay much of the blame at the feet of the education system, that costs the taxpayers a lot of money and produces many inferior “products”. These “products” are indoctrinated in the idea that they aren’t responsible for their failures, they’re passed on to the next grade anyway. It goes along with the idea of not worrying about being responsible for paying debts, there’s always bankruptcy court and then start over again.
The problem is, we can’t start over again when we, as a nation, go bankrupt.
As a nation, it’s going to take more than a President to turn things around. It’s going to take a Congress that can exercise a little bit of common sense in fiscal matters. I’m continually appalled at the way prominent Democrats think they can buy votes with their “give away” programs. Someone is eventually going to have to pay for all of it and there isn’t any bankruptcy court to bail the payers out.
It’s all social engineering with continual conditioning, from the cradle to the grave, to accept no responsibility for our actions. As the old saying goes, “There ain’t no free lunches”.
the 5 trillion dollar deficit that Bush leaves us with was not all one by Democrats. You fiscally conservative republicans forgot that it is not just a slogan.
But hey let’s not place any responsibility for failure on anyone but the OTHER party. Because it is just too painful to admit that the guy we believe in is a lot like the guy we don’t