Issue 204 Kill the debt November 12, 2013

We talked yesterday on how the national debt keeps increasing. But we haven't talked in a while on how to shrink that debt. So here are a few ideas.

Money sent overseas: The United States sends money to a number of foreign governments. This includes China, North Korea, Vietnam, and more. This money is used in an attempt to buy influence. It is the usual you scratch my back and I will scratch yours. One problem. The money we send to these countries does not buy influence at all. All the countries receiving it, save a few exceptions like Israel, do not vote our way in the United Nations, or side with us in international treaties. In other words, we are throwing millions of dollars away for no reason to countries that may even hate us. Further, we are giving money to China, and others whom we owe money to. But not a single penny of this additional money is used to pay off the debt. Instead, just like before, it is being used to try to gain political favors in that country. And like before, we end up throwing away that money. So the solution to solving this issue and shrinking the debt is to just stop giving money to countries with the sole exception to our allies where it counts.

Pork Barrel spending: We said this was one of the reasons for our growing national debt in yesterday’s issue, but what are we going to do about it. Well, there is only one way to decrease this problem and be rid of a majority of lobbyists at the same time. That solution is term limits. Cap the number of years a person may serve in the House of Representatives to 12 years. For additional protection, make it so that the terms of office can not be consecutive. Likewise, if we are not going to revert the Senate back to how it used to be, (a block against unfunded mandates on the States and the taking of their power) then they too should be limited to 12 years as a Senator. It will solve a majority of the overall problem.

Other spending: As you know, there is numerous instances of government overlap, special exceptions for members of congress and waste in every department and agency. So how do we solve this? For one, an amendment that forces all laws at the federal level to be applied to all citizens and non-citizens alike (including members of Congress). This means that Congress will have to think twice about making a law as it will also affect them (currently all federal employees and certain businesses and groups are exempted from Obama Care). Next we will need a "sun set" committee. This committee will look at all old spending and laws to see what is no longer needed. Once they find such spending, law or provision of a law, it will go to Congress for a vote to remove it on case by case bases. Also, this same sun set committee will review the budget for automatic spending and be able to block it from being voted on so that it may simply be defunded. Another step further would be a line item veto and a line reduction veto. These would enable the President to reduce or eliminate spending on a program when money is being allocated. Thankfully these vetos are specific to spending and each can be overturned by a traditional 2/3rds vote in Congress. This may allow horse trading but it is worth the savings.

Conclusion: There are a number of other solutions, from debt bonds, bans on certain forms of federal spending, consolidation of different departments, and even eliminating whole swaths of the federal bureaucracy itself. There are even proposals for constitutional amendments for balanced budgets. However, there are three things that will be most effective. One; all debts owed on that year are paid first before all spending is to occur. This insures that we pay our debts first and foremost. Two; limit the number of days Congress can meet to a specified number of days per year. This will limit what they vote on to things that are important first (this mimics Texas law which stipulates that there legislature can only meet once every 2 years). And finally three; a balanced budget amendment which restricts borrowing to a certain percentage of the federal governments yearly income. This will be done in such a way that it will severely curtail all forms of borrowing that would only make a bad situation worse. I do not use the stipulation that borrowing should be limited to a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) because the federal government makes that formula. So by limiting how much they can borrow based on how much they take in via our tax dollars helps to remove corruption. Of course, I would add fail safes, like if the federal government fails to pay off the debt for that year, or Congress breaks the law, then all spending and laws for that entire year will be rendered null and void. In short, none of them will count. This fail safe will insure that they do not break the law. We all have a lot of work to do, and it will be hard. Step one is term limits and deciding how that would look. Yes, we can do it, but we just have to continue pushing forward to make it there.