There is stormy weather ahead

Watching the news reports out of Washington is disheartening with the lack of leadership on either side of the isle.  If America is to have any chance of pulling out of our downward spiraling economy then you’d think somebody…, anybody, would have figured out by now that adding to our enormous debt is not helping.

Fox News reports Speaker of the House, John Boehner, supposedly a Republican, has decided that attempting to reign in obscene spending practices by our government isn’t worth fighting for. 

Boehner, referring to Obama and Democrats, said. “We’ll let his party give him the debt ceiling increase that he wants.”

I’m left scratching my head…, wondering why we elect folks if not to look out for our nation’s best interests. 

Looking through sites dedicated to the nation’s debt, our economy and how to solve some of the issues facing us did not make me feel any better.  Some of the observations found on Google were less than encouraging.

“By way of example, the total deficit on in 2010 was just over $9,000 billion US Dollars (USD), or $9 trillion USD. When you divide this figure by 309 million, which is approximately the entire population of the United States that year, you are left with over $29,000 USD for every man, woman and child.”

Then jump over to more recent figures and compare:

“The Outstanding Public Debt as of 11 Feb 2014 at 07:32:29 PM GMT is:

$17,268,215,781,963.36

The estimated population of the United States is 317,622,120 so each citizen’s share of this debt is $54,367.17.”

I was never that good at math; but going from $29,000 debt per person to $54,000 looks awfully close to twice as much per person in a very short while; not a good thing.

It’s not going to improve with more debt.  In fact about the only thing ahead for Americans is debtor’s prison; except it won’t be called that.  It’s better known as indentured servitude or slavery.  The folks to whom we are in debt will only let this go on for so long before they demand payment which makes me wonder why those in Washington continue to destroy the economy; are they intentionally subjecting each of us to a life of servitude?

A while ago I mentioned that our outstanding public debt was calculated to be around $17,268,215,781,963.36, give or take a few pennies; but having grown used to our government being ‘less than honest’ I looked for a more accurate representation of our debt, one that includes a ‘reality check’.

“As the Obama administration prepares to finance a Fiscal Year 2011 budget deficit expected to top $1.6 trillion, the American public is largely unaware that the true negative net worth of the federal government reached $76.3 trillion last year.”

{…}

‘“As government obligations continue to spiral out of control and the U.S. government shows no willingness to make the magnitude of spending cuts required to return to fiscal responsible, the U.S. economy is headed to a great collapse coming in the form of a hyper-inflationary great depression,” says economist John Williams, author of the website Government Shadow Statistics.”

I’m afraid it gets worse because a goodly portion of our citizenry think that conservative methods, fundamental principles which launched and then catapulted our nation into being the most productive and financially sound industrialized nation on earth, conservative methods to restore stability and prosperity are no longer considered valid. 

I found the following statements; but these are only a couple examples of the many which point toward a collectivist approach rather than a free market solution.

“Being an economist I favor more market oriented approaches than liberals, but don’t buy the free-market religion of conservatives.”  (Steven Stoft from his blog page zFacts)

“Essentially, the House GOP Leadership just told the Tea Party Caucus to go screw itself…”  (Doug Mataconis’ Facebook page February 11, 2014, linked to Boehner’s spending cap article above)

“Boener is determined not to allow any more pointless Capitol Hill crises to interfere with the GOP winning elections this November.”  (John Burke who commented on the same article posted by Mataconis)

Speaking with a certain amount of trepidation as recorded by the New York Times:

“It lets the debt go up cleanly,” said Representative Steve Pearce, Republican of New Mexico, referring to his leadership’s decision. “And I’m not sure that’s in the best interest of the country.”

Throughout the fabric of today’s media there’s a hint; more accurately, a condescending accusation directed toward anyone espousing conservative values and indicating loss of rational thought, especially folks linked either directly or indirectly with the Tea Party.  Why is that?

I don’t expect an answer, it was a rhetorical question; however, I will draw from a talk given several years ago by Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  About half way into his presentation he mentioned a biblical story, the story of when “Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, dreamed dreams which greatly troubled him” as recorded in the 41st chapter of Genesis.

He reminded those listening of the dangers associated with being in debt with no means of survival other than to bow humbly to those who had planned ahead, those who were in actuality your masters.

“Now, brethren, I want to make it very clear that I am not prophesying, that I am not predicting years of famine in the future. But I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order.

So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes.  In fact, some are living on borrowings.

We have witnessed in recent weeks wide and fearsome swings in the markets of the world. The economy is a fragile thing. A stumble in the economy in Jakarta or Moscow can immediately affect the entire world. It can eventually reach down to each of us as individuals. There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.”

As individuals we have the ability to control our debts to some degree; but when our nation’s leaders place the yoke of servitude upon us…what then?   The scriptures are replete with examples of unbridled debt and the consequences which surely must be paid, and paid in full.  My sentiments are similar to those of Elder Hinckley, “There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.”

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.