Tuesday, March 5, 2013

"Government is taking 40 percent of the GDP. And that's at the state, local and federal level. President Obama has taken government spending at the federal level from 20 percent to 25 percent. Look, at some point, you cease being a free economy, and you become a government economy. And we've got to stop that." Mitt Romney

Double stacked pallets of $100 dollar bills = One trillion!
Hello folks and welcome. It is Tuesday, March 5, 2013. The most ever in history. That's the amount our federal government will collect in revenues for 2013. This is according to the bi-partisan Congressional Budget Office, CBO. And the number is. You can provide your own drum roll: 2.7 trillion dollars. The most ever. In our history. But, sadly, there's a problem for those who have control over all these collected dollars. It's not enough! No. Not even close. Historic levels of revenues to spend is not enough to feed the beast that demands more and more. Some have the audacity to say we should at the least slow down the increases that are being gobbled up. Not on your life. The current administration has a one note song. Tax increases. Tax increases. Tax increases. The fact is that more people today depend totally on government to support their day by day living than at any other time in our history. We have less folks working but more money needed. It doesn't take an MIT mathematician to figure out there's only two options. Increase taxes or reduce spending. I'm pretty sure we all know how this one typically goes, in the end, that is, because look how government has grown under all our recent chief executives, Democrat and Republican. Looking at some of the actual numbers reported by our government, here's a footnote that pretty much explains it all: "Although the federal deficit is the amount each year by which federal outlays in the federal budget exceed federal receipts, the gross federal debt increases each year by substantially more than the amount of the deficit each year. That is because a substantial amount of federal borrowing is not counted in the budget."

Not counted in the budget. You have to love that one. This brings up a point. How many Americans will be able to look forward to the highest amount of income they've ever made in their history? Outside of those starting their very first job, I seriously doubt there will be that many, if any, that will be able to make this boast. This reminds me of the 1958 movie, The Blob. I can't be sure that I ever watched the movie in its entirety but I've seen bits and pieces from it. The plot is pretty simple: A strange life form consumes everything in it's path as it grows and grows. Am I becoming paranoid? I don't think so but I actually believe we have positioned ourselves for some huge changes in the freedoms we have always taken for granted. The bigger our government grows, it is the more control that is forfeited to it, and that ends up directly impacting the independence we have long cherished here in our country. Maybe I am an alarmist but we all had better become more well informed because while we look the other way it's insatiable appetite continues to demand to be fed.

Okay. Perhaps it was a little over the top but I took poetic license for a reason. Folks, there's much more here than just getting rich people to pay more taxes. There are some fundamental individual freedoms at stake and I fear that most of us are like the proverbial frogs in the boiler. The heat increases slowly but surely. When it begins to boil, it's too late and the frogs are no longer able to escape. Be it healthcare or taxes or rules and regulations or executive orders or any number of incessant steady knocks that wears the rock of our freedom. I'm not sure exactly what a low information voter is, but, I don't want to be one. I am not fooled by party affiliation. The proof is in the performance not rhetoric or symbol. I will say this: While I don't necessarily think it to be a conspiracy, I do believe it to be a relentless desire to change America into a more state controlled nation. For me, I fear that. Especially at this time in my life, especially for my offspring and their progeny. Yet, while I see these things and like to think I have my eyes wide open, I am very much aware that our resources ultimately come from God Almighty, therefore, I will look to Him to provide, even as I lament the current state of affairs we are living in. He can be trusted and that we can count on. Amen.   ....More later.

No comments: