How would you reply if a reporter, journalist, or similarly liberal co-worker or relative asked you why you were a Tea Partier? My answer would be “Because I don’t want this country to go bankrupt! You don’t want the country to go bankrupt do you? Just think of what this would do to the really poor and needy!”
I’d like to hear anyone argue with that! I doubt that the questioner could disagree and admit to wanting the country to go bankrupt, or to hurt the poor and needy. He or she however might then ask how I could possibly think the country was going bankrupt. My response would be “Why? Because the government says it is! The head of the Congressional Budget Office stated our fiscal policy is unsustainable and can’t be solved through minor changes. The Co-Chairman of the President’s debt commission said the federal debt is like a cancer. Why do you think they formed a debt commission? Gee, don’t you read the news?”
Of course it doesn’t take a debt commission member to figure out that if we keep spending like we have and borrowing more money, the yearly deficits and debt will only get worse as the interest costs keep piling up. The country’s debt and fiscal situation is not a matter of debate or political beliefs. It is a financial reality. The outstanding debt is a real (and growing) amount, and required future entitlement spending can be conservatively projected. This all adds up to the fact that the promises made by our elected officials now exceed our financial ability to fulfill them. Our federal fiscal problem won’t go away by ignoring it or by calling anyone who brings up the problem “extremist”, “radical”, or “ultra conservative”. Simply put, what is unsustainable will not be sustained. No amount of “spin” will prevent the consequences to come if we don’t make serious changes now.
People need to realize they have a disease before they search for the cure. Deficit spending is the disease and following the constitution is the cure. In future posts, I will present what got our country into this financial mess, the extent of the problem, and how it will could impact our county and you.