By: Daniel Nardini
Of course, like tens of millions of my fellow Americans, I have no say in the national debt battles being waged in the dysfunctional Land of Oz we call Washington, D.C. If I could put in my five dollars worth on the budget battle (that is if I had that much to spare. I have to buy food too!), I would have to say that the Democrats and Republicans should stop fighting like cats and dogs and take their jobs seriously. Many people have suggested that strict term limits with any benefits and pay tied to what they do for the American people should be the norm. I like that idea and fully approve it. That all said, the President and the U.S. Congress in my view can more than stop the national debt and get this country moving by doing three things.
First, get us out of all these wars! We are now in three wars, and more than anything these wars are the biggest money drain. Iraq is barely stable (and has become a puppet of Iran), Afghanistan is a corrupt, war-torn mess, and Libya is in a life and death civil war where the United States, France and Great Britain have picked a side that we know little about. These wars are a real money pit and can go on for a long time (the Afghanistan War has gone on for a long time—over ten years).
Second, put money into small businesses. The Democrats and Republicans talk about giving us back money in our tax returns. But this will have little effect. What the government should be doing is giving money back in services and aid to small businesses to not only start up but to stay afloat. This is what Germany has done for both small and corporate businesses. And if they start to improve then the chances are they will start to hire people back or hire new people. This is what the U.S. government did exactly in 1993, and why it has not done so this time remains a mystery. The German government realized that saving as many businesses as possible during a bad economic time was better than just giving people a whole wad of money.
Finally, cutting government waste is a good start, but it is better to cut those programs that do not work and keep those that do. One excellent example is cut the military’s budget. This is what was done in the 1990’s, and it actually helped to bring down government costs considerably. We only need to see how the Pentagon spent $300 million on two ships that were never finished, never put into use, and had to be destroyed at a bundle to the American taxpayer as waste at its worst. This kind of corporate welfare has to go, and likewise those companies that do not invest in the United States but overseas also deserve to not receive any U.S. taxpayer dollars. Alas, the way I will see it, if they come up with a national budget at all it will simply be a mess full of pork, full of lobbyist benefits, and will not address any of the problems we really have. Come November of 2012 we should be ready to fire at least 500 people in Washington, D.C. and one person in the White House for not doing their jobs.
Three Things to Fix the Economy
By: Daniel Nardini
First, get us out of all these wars! We are now in three wars, and more than anything these wars are the biggest money drain. Iraq is barely stable (and has become a puppet of Iran), Afghanistan is a corrupt, war-torn mess, and Libya is in a life and death civil war where the United States, France and Great Britain have picked a side that we know little about. These wars are a real money pit and can go on for a long time (the Afghanistan War has gone on for a long time—over ten years).
Second, put money into small businesses. The Democrats and Republicans talk about giving us back money in our tax returns. But this will have little effect. What the government should be doing is giving money back in services and aid to small businesses to not only start up but to stay afloat. This is what Germany has done for both small and corporate businesses. And if they start to improve then the chances are they will start to hire people back or hire new people. This is what the U.S. government did exactly in 1993, and why it has not done so this time remains a mystery. The German government realized that saving as many businesses as possible during a bad economic time was better than just giving people a whole wad of money.
Finally, cutting government waste is a good start, but it is better to cut those programs that do not work and keep those that do. One excellent example is cut the military’s budget. This is what was done in the 1990’s, and it actually helped to bring down government costs considerably. We only need to see how the Pentagon spent $300 million on two ships that were never finished, never put into use, and had to be destroyed at a bundle to the American taxpayer as waste at its worst. This kind of corporate welfare has to go, and likewise those companies that do not invest in the United States but overseas also deserve to not receive any U.S. taxpayer dollars. Alas, the way I will see it, if they come up with a national budget at all it will simply be a mess full of pork, full of lobbyist benefits, and will not address any of the problems we really have. Come November of 2012 we should be ready to fire at least 500 people in Washington, D.C. and one person in the White House for not doing their jobs.