"Deficit to Hit All-Time High" (Wall Street Journal, 2/1/10)

This is disgusting. America's financial security is in dire straights as President Obama and Congress keep spending vast sums of money we don't have. Where in the Hell is our nation's leadership?

To start with our government has gone war crazy! U.S. military and nuclear weapons costs are equal to the next 15 nations combined. This week, President Obama called for nearly $160 billion alone for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2011 and $33 billion to pay for those wars this year in addition to what has already been spent.

Mr. Obama's proposed 2011 military "budget" of $708 billion would be a new record for military spending. And that's before it gets added to throughout the year with more spending bills. Has our government gone nuts?

With all this spending, it's no wonder the U.S. Deficit will hit an all-time high. We are already completely dependent on others to loan us money or believe or not the U.S. government can no longer pay its bills.

What is the government's answer? To borrow more money. And what it can't borrow, the Fed now prints.

Republicans and some Democrats are publicly demanding something be done about it but they offer few specifics. Let's help them. In EACH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, slash military and other costs so each Congressman helps to balance the budget.

But if cutting expenses doesn't work for them, here is an alternative: raise taxes. Each Congressman could poll voters in his or her District to find out how much more they would be willing to pay.

But every man, woman and child in America already owes $40,000 and that number is rapidly rising. And for what? To bailout Wall Street? To shower money on the military-industrial complex?

The value in the U.S. dollar is based solely on the confidence people have in it. If a crisis of confidence should strike, the value could collapse. And the history of many other nations tells us that when it happens, it happens fast.

Think of it like trying to bend a steel rod. It is solid and looks impenetrable. But if enough pressure is brought to bear, over time it will bend and when it does, it will bend fast.

The U.S. is particularly vulnerable because its major creditors like China are already worried and because the U.S. finances so much of its debt short-term. All it takes is for investors to stand back and the ensuing crisis will paralyze our nation.

We allowed these soaring deficits by letting our government and the lobbyists who run it do whatever they want. Endless wars, bailouts, you name it. But we can solve it by taking back our government and demanding these Titanic size costs be slashed before it's too late.

Our creditors and the nations we occupy or would attack on a whim will thank us as will our families for saving their financial security. We as a people are far better than our government and it's long past time we assert ourselves.

Dick [updated, 2/4/10]