Politicians had known it for decades, but their 'dirty little secret' was conveniently swept under the rug. Ever since H. Ross Perot made it an issue in his 1992 bid for the Presidency, politicians knew the United States of America was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. But once they effectively silenced Perot, Democrats and Republicans alike chose to ignore this political stick of dynamite. First of all, both parties had contributed to the problem, spending taxpayers' money like drunken sailors.
When Bill Clinton left office, it was the first time the U.S.A. had produced a budget surplus, thanks to fiscal restraints, a strong economy, and the Clinton administration's effective management.
David Walker, head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), had become one of America's most prolific whistle-blowers, campaigning during all of 2007, warning Americans that the country was headed for an economic depression of the most severe proportions. The GAO is an investigative arm of Congress, established to audit and evaluate the performance of the federal government. But, Walker's warnings fell on deaf ears inside the Capitol Building, and the Bush White House didn't want to hear any talk about trimming the costs of war. No politician had the gonads to tell his constituency the truth: to avoid a macroeconomic meltdown, the government would have to cut benefits and raise taxes. No one within the Bush administration had to guts to tell their arrogant, war-mongering, dimwitted cowboy Commander-In-Chief that he had to stop spending money the nation didn't have on wars the nation didn't have to fight.
By the beginning of 2007, the deficit had ballooned to over $9 trillion. Every year nothing is done about it, Walker warned, added another $2.5 trillion to the deficit. In twenty years, Walker projected that MediCare alone would be five trillion dollars in the red. Left unchecked, the federal government's fiscal imbalance would easily top $20 trillion by the middle of the century, and could be four times that much by the end of the beginning of the next century. As baby boomers aged, Social Security, MediCare and MedicAid costs would continue to skyrocket. "If the United States government conducts 'business as usual' over the next few decades," Walker promised a crowd in Austin, Texas late in 2006, "a national debt that is already $8.5 trillion could reach $46 trillion, or more...This is about the future of our country, our kids and grandkids. We the people have to rise up to make sure things get changed."
The Bush administration had put America's future in jeopardy, all because of its senseless allegiance to the giant U.S. military-industrial complex that coveted the profitability of war, and the huge oil companies that coveted the profitability from oil. The U.S.A. had been on a wild spending binge ever since 2000, recklessly pissing money away on a needless war in Iraq, carelessly allocating billions for a laughable Department of Homeland Security, and fraudulently wasting billions on ineffective illegal immigration controls and 'security' measures that only served as political plums for Republicans. Not only had the U.S. plunged its way into massive debt, it faced a very real threat from its largest creditor, the Peoples' Republic of China. If China cut up the U.S.A.'s credit cards, the house of cards would collapse. Republican politicos, of course, were banking on all that to happen shortly after Bush was out of office. That way the Republicans could blame the Democrats for the depression, recession, or bankruptcy soon to strike the U.S.A. As much as the Bush administration tried to censure Walker, his message was coming through loud and clear. Sadly, most Americans were practicing the very same irresponsible financial management tactics. Spend, spend, spend.....don't bother saving for a rainy day. For most middle-class and low-incomed individuals, however, even two paychecks weren't enough to keep ahead of the rising costs of...everything.
Walker initiated what he called a "Fiscal Wake-Up Tour", on which he brought conservative and liberal economists and budget analysts along. Because foreigners held so much of the federal government's debt - mainly China, Japan, and other U.S. trading partners - interest payments alone were staggering. China, in particular, had made it easy for the U.S. government to borrow heavily, "making [it] about as painful as a big balance on a zero-percent credit card.. It was as if China was the drug dealer, feeding America's addictive spending habits, knowing all along that eventually they would become masters of what had once been America's domain.
All of this caused concern to O.U.T.R.A.G.E., and had been the reason for many of the twenty-five resolutions introduced shortly after the assassination of Bush, Congress, and many of America's 'greed heads'. Article II was a resolution to modify Social Security the "ensure more social equity" by providing benefits only to those who truly needed the money. Article III sought to revise the income tax system to make it more equitable, ensuring that those with the most money paid the most tax. Article IV was a resolution to nationalize the health care system and eliminate the bloat, corruption, and obscene profits from what had become a national disgrace wherein one-fourth of the American population had no health insurance, and millions more were being gouged by hospitals, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and costly medical expenses. Article IX introduced a resolution to establish and maintain a balanced federal budget. If the U.S. was serious about not passing on tremendous debt to its future generations, all of these resolutions had to become part of the law of the land. Committees working on formalizing each of these resolutions were urged to work together with other committees so that the "right hand knew what the left hand was doing" - a simple concept, but one that had rarely, if ever, been implemented inside the beltway.
Orchestrating all of this into a workable, streamlined, orderly system of reform was a monumental challenge, something that couldn't be left in the hands of politicians. This was the people's work, and it had to be done on a far more intellectual and professional level than the "let's make a deal" mentality of the U.S. Congress and the Bush administration. New candidates for political office would be groomed to understand that they were temporary public servants, sent to do the people's bidding and not to establish a monolithic base of power, status, and wealth for themselves and their conniving cronies. Everything had to come together for the mutual benefit of all, through equitable measures based on genuine need and community cause. Favoritism, bias, nepotism, and preferential treatment, because of who you were or who you knew, would not be tolerated. The Constitution begins with three important words: "We the People...." It says nothing about "We the wealthy...", "We the privileged....", "We the powerful...", "We the corporations...", or "We the special interests...". Everyone had to treated equally, based on individual need or circumstance. There could be no special favors, no behind-closed-door deals, no "for sale" signs on politicians' desks.
It was imperative that this be done propitiously and expeditiously. Walker considered the worst result of continuing deficit spending the outrage of making our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren repay the debt we incurred.
When Bill Clinton left office, it was the first time the U.S.A. had produced a budget surplus, thanks to fiscal restraints, a strong economy, and the Clinton administration's effective management.
David Walker, head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), had become one of America's most prolific whistle-blowers, campaigning during all of 2007, warning Americans that the country was headed for an economic depression of the most severe proportions. The GAO is an investigative arm of Congress, established to audit and evaluate the performance of the federal government. But, Walker's warnings fell on deaf ears inside the Capitol Building, and the Bush White House didn't want to hear any talk about trimming the costs of war. No politician had the gonads to tell his constituency the truth: to avoid a macroeconomic meltdown, the government would have to cut benefits and raise taxes. No one within the Bush administration had to guts to tell their arrogant, war-mongering, dimwitted cowboy Commander-In-Chief that he had to stop spending money the nation didn't have on wars the nation didn't have to fight.
By the beginning of 2007, the deficit had ballooned to over $9 trillion. Every year nothing is done about it, Walker warned, added another $2.5 trillion to the deficit. In twenty years, Walker projected that MediCare alone would be five trillion dollars in the red. Left unchecked, the federal government's fiscal imbalance would easily top $20 trillion by the middle of the century, and could be four times that much by the end of the beginning of the next century. As baby boomers aged, Social Security, MediCare and MedicAid costs would continue to skyrocket. "If the United States government conducts 'business as usual' over the next few decades," Walker promised a crowd in Austin, Texas late in 2006, "a national debt that is already $8.5 trillion could reach $46 trillion, or more...This is about the future of our country, our kids and grandkids. We the people have to rise up to make sure things get changed."
The Bush administration had put America's future in jeopardy, all because of its senseless allegiance to the giant U.S. military-industrial complex that coveted the profitability of war, and the huge oil companies that coveted the profitability from oil. The U.S.A. had been on a wild spending binge ever since 2000, recklessly pissing money away on a needless war in Iraq, carelessly allocating billions for a laughable Department of Homeland Security, and fraudulently wasting billions on ineffective illegal immigration controls and 'security' measures that only served as political plums for Republicans. Not only had the U.S. plunged its way into massive debt, it faced a very real threat from its largest creditor, the Peoples' Republic of China. If China cut up the U.S.A.'s credit cards, the house of cards would collapse. Republican politicos, of course, were banking on all that to happen shortly after Bush was out of office. That way the Republicans could blame the Democrats for the depression, recession, or bankruptcy soon to strike the U.S.A. As much as the Bush administration tried to censure Walker, his message was coming through loud and clear. Sadly, most Americans were practicing the very same irresponsible financial management tactics. Spend, spend, spend.....don't bother saving for a rainy day. For most middle-class and low-incomed individuals, however, even two paychecks weren't enough to keep ahead of the rising costs of...everything.
Walker initiated what he called a "Fiscal Wake-Up Tour", on which he brought conservative and liberal economists and budget analysts along. Because foreigners held so much of the federal government's debt - mainly China, Japan, and other U.S. trading partners - interest payments alone were staggering. China, in particular, had made it easy for the U.S. government to borrow heavily, "making [it] about as painful as a big balance on a zero-percent credit card.. It was as if China was the drug dealer, feeding America's addictive spending habits, knowing all along that eventually they would become masters of what had once been America's domain.
All of this caused concern to O.U.T.R.A.G.E., and had been the reason for many of the twenty-five resolutions introduced shortly after the assassination of Bush, Congress, and many of America's 'greed heads'. Article II was a resolution to modify Social Security the "ensure more social equity" by providing benefits only to those who truly needed the money. Article III sought to revise the income tax system to make it more equitable, ensuring that those with the most money paid the most tax. Article IV was a resolution to nationalize the health care system and eliminate the bloat, corruption, and obscene profits from what had become a national disgrace wherein one-fourth of the American population had no health insurance, and millions more were being gouged by hospitals, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and costly medical expenses. Article IX introduced a resolution to establish and maintain a balanced federal budget. If the U.S. was serious about not passing on tremendous debt to its future generations, all of these resolutions had to become part of the law of the land. Committees working on formalizing each of these resolutions were urged to work together with other committees so that the "right hand knew what the left hand was doing" - a simple concept, but one that had rarely, if ever, been implemented inside the beltway.
Orchestrating all of this into a workable, streamlined, orderly system of reform was a monumental challenge, something that couldn't be left in the hands of politicians. This was the people's work, and it had to be done on a far more intellectual and professional level than the "let's make a deal" mentality of the U.S. Congress and the Bush administration. New candidates for political office would be groomed to understand that they were temporary public servants, sent to do the people's bidding and not to establish a monolithic base of power, status, and wealth for themselves and their conniving cronies. Everything had to come together for the mutual benefit of all, through equitable measures based on genuine need and community cause. Favoritism, bias, nepotism, and preferential treatment, because of who you were or who you knew, would not be tolerated. The Constitution begins with three important words: "We the People...." It says nothing about "We the wealthy...", "We the privileged....", "We the powerful...", "We the corporations...", or "We the special interests...". Everyone had to treated equally, based on individual need or circumstance. There could be no special favors, no behind-closed-door deals, no "for sale" signs on politicians' desks.
It was imperative that this be done propitiously and expeditiously. Walker considered the worst result of continuing deficit spending the outrage of making our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren repay the debt we incurred.
posted by Bushwacker! at 8:28 AM
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