From its founding in 1776 as a small republic to around the middle of the 20th century, the U.S. gradually became bigger and stronger to become the most powerful and richest country in the world. This article raises great concerns that the U.S. can continue to maintain that position as we move deeper into the 21st century, unless the U.S. government and its citizens are willing to take drastic measures which they have not been willing to take in the past.
What are these great concerns?
National Debt: The first and most obvious is the great debts owed by the U.S. federal government and various state governments. For example, the total debt of the U.S. government [1] was over $14 trillion at the end of 2010, which is about 95% of the U.S.’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) of $14.7 trillion for the calendar year 2010. [2] This translates to a debt of about $46,170 per person for the 310.8 million people living in the U.S. The interest on this debt for 2010 was about $414 billion, or 2.8% of the GDP. [2] Since interest rates are expected to rise from their currently abnormally low levels and the national debt is expected to continue to increase, the projection is that the interest alone on the U.S. federal government’s total debt could rise to about 4% of the GDP in 2020. This means that a significant portion of the U.S. government’s income will be used to pay just the interest owed on the debt, not even counting the debt itself. The situation in many states is at a similar predicament. For example, New Jersey’s net tax-supported debt in 2008 was $31.4 billion, which was higher than its state tax revenue of $26.6 billion. New York’s net tax-supported debt in 2008 was $56.9 billion, which was higher than its state tax revenue of $55.7 billion. [3]
The above situations obviously cannot be allowed to continue on any extended basis. It is just simple arithmetic that in order to solve the problem, we must consistently spend less than what we earn. Yet, year after year during the last 10 years, the government always spent more than what it took in. The politicians are advocating policies that may gain votes for them or their party in the short term, e.g., tax cuts or maintaining tax cuts, and more spending, but often disastrous in the long term. Instead of working cooperatively on a long-term realistic plan of reducing the debt, they are sticking to their traditional party agenda and unwilling to compromise, or arguing on a partisan basis how to raise the debt ceiling or the value of that debt ceiling. Similarly, corporations and various constituent groups continue to seek profits or benefits for themselves even if it is at the expense of the country as a whole, or various constituent groups fight hard to keep or even expand their benefits even though their benefits may already be better than the large majority of the other constituent groups. There seems to be a total lack of concern that we are in an overloaded, sinking boat together. Instead of working together to reduce any unnecessary load on the boat, to bailout the water in the sinking boat, and to plug up the leaks, each one is interested in only keeping all his/her possessions on the boat or even bringing more possessions on the overloaded boat.
Global Competitiveness: To be able to compete and beat the competition in the global economy, a country can produce the products less expensively, can produce better quality products, or produce newer and more innovative products. Since the standard of living in the U.S. is higher than most countries, and significantly higher than countries like China, Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, and other countries in Asia, Africa, or South America, the U.S. is not going to compete successfully by producing less expensive products. So to compete successfully, the U.S. must move up the production (manufacturing) chain by producing better quality or newer and more innovative products. This means that our students must be more and better educated than our competitors. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international standardized test for 15-year-old students designed to measure not just whether they know basic facts but whether they can use them in practical situations. The test measures “skills necessary for deeper learning that prepare students to graduate from high school and college with the capacity to know and understand core academic content, think critically and solve problems, communicate effectively, work collaboratively and continue learning throughout their lives, i.e., skills necessary to succeed in a global economy.” [4] In the most recent PISA test of 2009, the U.S. ranked 17, 31, and 23 respectively in reading, math, and science, behind countries like China, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and many other countries. Furthermore, compared with earlier PISA tests, the U.S.’s rankings seem to have slipped somewhat. [5] Unless the U.S. improves significantly in this area, how can she move up the production chain and compete successfully by producing better quality products and newer and more innovative products relative to the global competitors.
Unwillingness to Address the Roots of Problems: When anyone or any country is faced with a problem, that person or country must understand and address the root cause of the problem. Only if the root cause of the problem is removed will the problem be solved. If one just addresses the symptoms (or manifestations) of the problem, then the problem will remain. We illustrate with several examples.
Drug, Alcohol, and Cigarette Use by Youths: People recognize that this is a serious problem. It affects not only the individuals involved, but also affects and is very costly for the society as a whole. It costs the society in terms of increased medical costs, increased road casualty and insurance costs, lost productivity, decreased personal safety and increased crimes, increased costs of police, courts, and prisons, more gangs and smuggling and other crimes across our borders, etc. This problem was discussed in an earlier article in this web site “Some Thoughts on the Youth Substance Abuse Issue”: http://www.dontow.com/2008/06/some-thoughts-on-the-youth-substance-abuse-issue/. As discussed in that article, various methods have been proposed to solve these problems. However, those methods focus only on the youths, and it seems that there is one important factor that is not addressed by those methods. Children and young people observe and copy the behavior of adults, especially their adult family members. It is not what the adults say that is important, but what is most important is what the adults do. As long as there are serious substance abuse problems among the adult population, and there are, it will be essentially impossible to solve the youth substance abuse problems. Therefore, the root cause of the substance abuse problems is that adults have substance abuse problems. and we should find solutions to the adult substance abuse problems, i.e., attack the root cause of the problem.
If we can significantly reduce the demand for illicit drugs among the people living in the U.S., then we can also significantly reduce drug trafficking and various related crimes across our borders, because the root cause of this problem is the demand within the U.S.
Excessive Sexual Activities Among Youths: This is similar to the previous problem. Again, youths copy adults. If we can significantly reduce the amount of extra-marital activities among adults, especially among our politicians, actors and actresses, athletes, and other public figures, then there will be a similar reduction of excessive sexual activities among our youths.
Trade Deficit: We all agree that the U.S. has a large trade deficit, due to imports significantly exceeding exports. But the economic system that the U.S. advocates is supposed to be a free enterprise system. This means that economics is driven by competition, and a corporation is free to seek the cheapest parts and the cheapest labor, anywhere in the world. As a matter of fact, it was precisely this economic system that propelled the U.S. to become the richest and most powerful country in the world, resulting in a standard of living in the U.S. that is significantly higher than almost all of her competitors. A natural consequence of this result is that U.S. corporations will go oversees more and more to seek cheaper parts and labor. As mentioned earlier in the “global competitiveness” section of this article, the U.S. must move up the production chain to become competitive as it can no longer compete based on price. Imposing protectionism measures at this time is like supporting the rules of a game when you are winning and changing the rules of the game when you are losing. As a matter of fact, China which is projected to be the next economic power is expected to experience the same fate 30, 40, or so years down the road. As its standard of living continues to increase, China in the future will no longer be able to compete based on price as some of the countries in Southeast Asia or Africa improve their production infrastructure. Therefore, a generation or two from now, China will also have to move up the production chain in order for China to stay competitive. Instead of complaining that work is moving overseas, the U.S. must look at the root cause of the problem, which is that as the U.S.’s standard of living keeps on increasing, it can no longer be competitive on price. As work migrates overseas, the U.S. must focus and invest in areas, such as education [6], that can make the U.S. competitive higher in the production chain, i.e., produce better-quality products, and better or more innovative products.
Currency Revaluations: An issue very much related to the previous issue of trade deficit is currency revaluations. As the U.S.’s trade deficit with China continues to rise, the U.S. government has repeatedly pressured China to reevaluate its currency Renminbi (RMB) upward relative to the U.S. dollar. With such upward revaluation of the RMB relative to the U.S. dollar, China’s exports to the U.S. would become more expensive and therefore Americans would buy less Chinese exports, and at the same time, U.S.’s imports to China would be less expensive and therefore Chinese would buy more imports from the U.S. Not only that the U.S. is urging the Chinese government to do this, but it is accusing the Chinese government of purposely manipulating the Chinese currency. First of all, haven’t the U.S. been manipulating the U.S. dollar by printing more and more money. Since China owns $895 billion in U.S. Treasuries, or 32% of the total U.S. Treasuries outstanding ($2.8 trillion), by printing more and more money means that the debt owed by the U.S. to China has effectively been reduced. Actually, the RMB has been increasing in value relative to the U.S. dollar, about a 15% increase from January 2007 to January 2011. Although it may be a legitimate argument that the RMB should increase in value even more relative to the U.S. dollar, accusing China of purposely manipulating the valuation of its RMB as the main cause of the massive U.S. trade deficit is once again not addressing the root cause of the problem, which is the reduced competitiveness of the U.S.
It is very important to point out that just looking at the trade deficit numbers could be very misleading, because the price of an export product is counted toward China’s export total, but often only a small fraction of the profit from selling that product goes to Chinese companies who were involved in producing that product. For example, the overwhelming majority of the profit from selling within the U.S. an iphone or ipad that is made in China goes to Apple, and not to the companies involved in manufacturing the parts or producing that product. This could greatly distort the interpretation of the trade deficit and mask the root cause of the U.S.’s economic woes.
Other Root Causes of the U.S. Economic Problems: In the last three-four years, we have experienced one of the worst economic disasters in history, the housing loan bubble and various investment and loan derivatives that have no economic foundation but kept getting bigger and bigger until they crashed. This not only caused millions of Americans to lose their homes or their investments, it had adverse ramifications around the world. Yet not only that many of the leading executives and companies who were leading such investment junkets were not punished, they were rewarded with huge bonuses, stock options, or leave packages. Two examples are the companies of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and their executives. There is no way that these people and companies did not know what they were advocating and selling, the risks involved, and the long-term consequences. This is not a problem associated with just the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, because it started under the Bush administration and “so called” resolved under the Obama administration by essentially the same type of people. There was (and still is) unabashed greed that permeates a large part of the American infrastructure, including (1) financial companies at Wall Street, (2) Washington, D.C.’s government leaders and agencies who purposely reduced the amount of regulations that could have stopped such misadventures, and (3) top academics at leading business schools and universities who were guns for hire. The root cause of the problem is such unabashed greed and yet not much is done about it. An excellent documentary film about this period and the misguided adventures before, during, and after the crisis is the 2010 film “Inside Job” made by Charles Ferguson: http://www.sonyclassics.com/insidejob/.
Another example of a contributor to the economic problem of ordinary citizens is the high cost of gasoline. Even after the recent drop in gasoline prices, their prices are about $1 (or 40%) more than same time last year. At the same time, almost all of the major oil companies are enjoying huge profits. For example, Exxon’s profit in the first quarter of 2011 was $11 billion, about 69% higher than its profit one year earlier. The only company among the big five oil companies [7] that did not have a large increase in profit from a year earlier was BP because of the expenses they incurred related to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Their executives with the exception of the CEO of BP each earned more than $10 million in 2010 with Exxon’s CEO making $21.5 million. Even BP’s CEO made $6.8 million in 2010 while causing a great catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. Furthermore, these oil companies actually produced less oil in 2010 than 2009 even though their profits were significantly more. It seems that the rise in gasoline prices is not due purely to oil shortage or the rising prices of crude oil. One of the root causes of rising gasoline prices is again the unabashed greed of the big oil companies, while federal government legislators continue to give tax incentives to oil companies.
Foreign Policies: One of the grave concerns related to the future of the U.S. is its frequent misguided foreign policies. Such misguided foreign policy, especially one that leads to wars, has grave implications for its citizens from both a safety and economic point of view. An obvious example is the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 on the pretense of destroying Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Not only that no WMD was found, but after toppling over the Saddam Hussein regime, the U.S. had no well-thought-out plan on what to do next. Instead of listening to the advice of various professional diplomats and military leaders with experience in Iraq, the people who made the decision (basically Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and with President Bush behaving as the de facto absent Commander In Chief) made one of the greatest blunders in military history by not providing enough troops to maintain order after the military victory and deciding to disband the Iraqi army. The latter cut loose 500,000 former Iraqi soldiers with no jobs to support themselves but with all kinds of weapons, and left a security vacuum in Iraq. This led to the collapse of the government bureaucracy and army, and led to total chaos with massive looting and bombing. This allowed the Islamic fundamentalists to move in to fill this void, and their ranks swelled with many disillusioned Iraqi people. Furthermore, it changed the Iraqi citizens’ perceptions of the Americans from friends to fools or foes. The war also affected the Americans in the pocketbook to the tune of about $3 trillion, with the troubling additional question if we had not invaded Iraq, would we be stuck in Afghanistan as we are now. [8] An excellent documentary film about the U.S.’s invasion of Iraq and its aftermath is the 2007 film “No End in Sight” made by Charles Ferguson:
https://streamingmoviesright.com/us/movie/no-end-in-sight/.
Every country’s first priority should always be to take care of themselves, but that should not be at total neglect of the welfare of other countries, and more importantly not at the expense of other countries. It seems that our foreign policy with respect to Iraq, Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s, China from 1950s to now, and the Middle East from the end of WWII to now has always had a flavor of imperialism and a condescending attitude that other people’s lives are not worth as much as the lives of Americans. Again this is not just a Republican Party issue, or just a Democratic Party issue; it is an issue of both parties. It is this kind of mind set that is the root cause of many of our foreign policy problems.
Summary: We are concerned that our country can no longer continue to be the richest and most powerful country in the world. We identify several major issues facing the U.S. today: National debt, decreasing global competitiveness, unwillingness to address the root causes of problems, and failing foreign policies. These are huge and fundamental issues. They cannot be solved by twigging our traditional ways of doing things. They can be solved only if our government and our citizens first acknowledge that such problems exist, and that we are in an overloaded, sinking boat together. We must work together to reduce any unnecessary load on the boat, to bailout the water in the sinking boat, and to plug up the leaks. We must always have in mind the best interests of the whole country, and not just what is best for ourselves or our particular group. Unfortunately, this kind of mind set is not something that we have been willing to do in the past. Perhaps as our boat continues to sink, more and more people will realize the seriousness of our problems and that we no longer have the luxury of putting off these problems for our children or grandchildren to solve. Perhaps then we as a whole nation will be willing to make this paradigm shift.
It is also important to point out that even if the U.S. is no longer the richest and most powerful country in the world and China is rapidly gaining grounds financially, we are not necessarily saying that China will become the richest and most powerful country in the world, because in many respects there are still large gaps between the U.S. and China. Furthermore, China also needs to solve its own problems.
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[1] The total debt of the U.S. federal government is the sum of the federal debt securities held by the public (people, business, and foreign governments) and the federal debt securities held by various U.S. government agencies (e.g., Social Security Agency).
[2] “The U.S. National Debt and How It Got So Big”: http://useconomy.about.com/od/fiscalpolicy/p/US_Debt.htm.
[3] “Interactive: Is Your State A Debt Disaster”: http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/20/states-debt-pensions-interactive-map.html.
[4] “Can Deeper Learning Improve American Competitiveness?”: http:///www.hewlett.org/newsroom/newsletter/can-deeper-learning-improve-american-competitiveness.
[5] “Programme for International Student Assessment”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment.
[6] By investing in education, we do not necessarily mean just putting more money in education. We mean that we need to reevaluate our whole education system, including the effectiveness of our teaching and how teachers are evaluated.
[7] The big five oil companies are Exxon, Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips, and BP.
[8] “The true cost of the Iraq war: $3 trillion and beyond”: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/03/AR2010090302200.html.
Don,
I agree with your analysis of the problems facing the U.S. There are a few points I’d like to make.
Free market economy can undoubtedly unleash the wealth-creating potential residing in every individual and thus contribute to the development of a country’s economy. But the dark side of it is, it also promotes egoism and irresponsibility. In the course of perfecting the Union, America has achieved considerable progress in fighting the white egoism during the Civil War, the corporate egoism and irresponsibility during the Great Depression and the egoism of the affluent and wealthy class during the civil rights movement – to just name a few. But in a free market economy egoism and irresponsibility if left unchecked will certainly continue to wreak havoc. Not only is it apparent in the 2008 financial crisis, but also in the US politics nowadays where the Administration is rendered almost ineffective through the blockade tactics of the Congress. The two big US political parties (in particular the GOP) are not what they used to be anymore as they have demonstrated themselves as not being able to put the country’s interests above the partisan interests. In the twenty-first century one could not but shake one’s head in disbelief that in a highly civilized country like the US there would emerge a party like the Tea Party spreading half-truths and twisted truths around. This is unfortunately the distressed state of the Union at present.
Another point I’d like to make concerns consumerism which is a vital factor in the sustainablility of the US economy. As we all know, the earth is a finite place and its resources are finite too. Big houses, big cars, big expenditures etc are symbols of American consumerism. When I was on the American freeways I found it just inacceptable to see a great majority of the cars on the road have only one person in them. Imagine how the earth would look like if the Chinese and Indians were to copy the lifestyle of Americans in the years to come! It is also exactly the indulgence in consumerism that has contributed to the enormous American debt and deficit. Among the many problems the US have to solve, to ask the Americans to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle is probably the hardest challenge. Look, the leading environmentalist Al Gore is not even willing to give up his big mansion and his flying with helipcopters to meetings!
Best regards
Zushu
Don,
Very interesting and thoughtful article. I agree with most of your observations but just want to make a comment on the international standardized test. Standardized tests, no matter how well they are designed, at best test students’ ability to learn and remember, but not their creativity and certainly not their ability to innovate. The educational systems in Asian countries (like Taiwan and Singapore) are structured for their students to achieve good scores in standardized tests, but not to invent. Taiwan and Singapore leaders (political, academic and others) are concerned that while their students have pretty high scores in PISA test, their countries produce few world class scientists, not to mention companies like Google, Apple, Facebook, or Microsoft. More and more people now believe that over-emphasize of standardized tests won’t produce students that can innovate and invent, only students that know how to take tests.
Dominic
Don,
Many thanks for your thoughtful summary on the future of the US
economy. I just would like to add a couple of concerns:
1. The national debt is not limited to the debt at the federal
level. At this time, nearly all 50 states and a significant
number of local townships are technically insolvent.
Fortunately, the values and fate of foreign holdings on the
debt/stocks of semi-government agencies (e.g., Freddic/Fennie)
do not need to be included as national debt.
2. In terms of competitiveness, the US is facing yet another big
problem: the deteriorating infrastructures (e.g., bridges,
sewage systems, water supplies, electricity grids, highways,
dams, airports, levies) which need hundreds of billions, if
not trillions of dollars to repair/maintain.
Just another perspectives to the big picture.
Lyndon Pan
Dominic,
You raised an important and valid point. It requires some more discussion to clarify this issue. First, it is true that it is very difficult for a standardized test to predict a student’s future creativity and innovation. However, the ability to apply what students have learned to solve practical problems is relevant to global competitiveness, and that is something that the PISA tests try to measure. Of course one can still argue whether students can be trained to do better even in that kind of tests. So I don’t think one can draw a definitive conclusion. But let’s look at several other related phenomena.
One is the International Physics and Math Olympiad, which is an extremely difficult test for the very best high school students in physics and math. These are definitely tests that don’t just ask you to regurgitate what you have learned, but they test your ability to use what you have learned to analyze and solve very complex and difficult problems. For the 2008 International Physics Olympiad (the latest one that I can find the complete results), each country sent five representatives. Here are the results. The five Chinese representatives placed 1, 2, 3, 20, and 39. The five U.S. representatives placed 33, 35, 36, 45, and 48. For the 2008 International Math Olympiad, each country sent six representatives. Here are the results. The six Chinese representatives placed 1, 6, 10, 17, 41, and 47. The six U.S. representatives placed 2, 34, 45, 51, 55, and 72.
The second one is the number of international patent applications. The U.S. still files the most number of international patents, but other countries are catching up rapidly. For example, in 2010, the U.S. filed 44,855 applications, followed by Japan with 32,156 applications, Germany with 17,171 applications, and China with 3,942 applications. Although there is still a very large gap between the U.S. and China, the U.S.’ 2010 filing was down 1.7% from 2009, but China’s 2010 filing was up 56.2% from 2009! Among companies, in 2010 the Japanese company Panasonic kept its top spot filing 2,154 patent applications. The Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer ZTE was second filing 1,863 applications, and the Chinese telecommunications solutions provider Huawei was fourth filing 1,528 applications. The top American company was Qualcomm in third place filing 1,677 applications. I think the trend is clear that China is rapidly closing the gap in international patent applications.
The third one is the long dominance of Japanese and German automobile and electronic manufacturers, with Korea also becoming a strong competitor.
The fourth phenomenon is the large percentage of graduate students in science and engineering in American universities who are foreign students. For example, in 2006 (the year I can easily find the relevant statistics), the foreign student population earned approximately 36.2% of the doctorate degrees in the sciences and approximately 63.6% of the doctorate degrees in engineering. If this phenomenon continues, the U.S. will be heavily dependent on foreign students on its research and development. Furthermore, as other countries become more developed, many of these graduate school graduates will return to their native countries to work, instead of staying in the U.S. and becoming part of the U.S.’s technological work force.
Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that other countries have either advanced beyond the U.S. or closing the gap of competitiveness with the U.S. in the sense that they will be able to compete by producing high quality and new products, while doing it at a lower cost. Regarding your comment that most of the innovative technological advances in the last 30 years still originated in the U.S., I just want to point out that it takes more time to catch up in the area of major innovations and breakthroughs. For example, the 15 year old students taking the PISA tests will take at least another 10-15 years before they reach their major productivity years. Let’s wait and see.
Thanks for your valuable comments.
Don
Excellent review and analysis of what is ailing this country! I too, worry about how quickly it is “going to hell in a handbasket.” Pardon the cliche, but this is no longer the America I once knew.
And my point of view is taken from ground level. Being a rather “down-to-earth” guy, I have a lot to say that is nothing high-flown, but, right on target.
I consider myself someone who belongs to the World War Two generation, and so, I can see , very clearly, the difference in the make-up and mindset between – the youth (the “future” of our country) of the present era to the youths of that time. Observe what the young people of our country today are largely into, any day, and you will find yourself in the depths of depression. I need not go into great detail here. Their total absorption with their cellphones, not to mention themselves will open your eyes to how absolutely dumbed down they are! Their texting alone will tell you how bereft of language skills these ones! The bleak futures they are leading themselves into, therefore… Consider, too, their being so taken up with their desk and laptops. True, computer literacy is of paramount importance today, but have you seen what sites they go to mostly?
We have a generation of dysfunctionals on our hands! Not just namby-pamby ones, going nilly-willy about their day, but true “American Idles.” All with not much on their minds but mayhem, spawned by the evil elements that are out to do the country in! Where, you must know.
Their being so easily led (astray) is because they often do not get the proper upbringing. I cannot but agree with the experts who decry the state of most American homes today. Just go to any Walmart and observe the folks shopping there. With kids or not, see how they waddle about, with no shame…. Unshaven, unkempt, ugly, and ill-mannered. Their kids, if they are in tow, generally behave badly. It is no wonder they grow up to be natural born slackers!
Compare these despicables of our times with the 18s and 19s of the 40s, many commanding four-engine bombers and taking charge of crews under the most difficult of circumstances. If not under fire.
I cannot but say, should any major war break out, we are done! (Is it why our present “heroes” in Iraq and Afghanistan are getting nowhere?)
See what I am saying when I tell you where my viewpoints come from?
From where I stand, I say too, our government is what is killing the country. The taxes are way, way too high. That is why there is such a hew and cry out there coming from those who are “taxed enough already!” I number myself with them, even though I have never protested in front of the Capital. Why? I do not have the free time to do so! I run a small office maintenance business. And I can speak my peace – with clarity here regarding the state of the union and the reason why the economy is in the tank.
I used to make six-figures (one year) running my business. I had quite a number of people working my accounts, and I was thinking of growing my business more with each year. Well, the taxman came and soon, I found it not worth my while to do much but just to make enough to pay my bills. I saw no reason to be paying someone elses’ bills, working my fingers to the bone. Why even be giving Uncle Sam the lion’s share of my take-home? Every day when I went on the road, I paid my taxes… The gas I had to buy to get me to my jobsite was taxed. The food I bought along the way was taxed… The things I had to buy to get my job done too… Plus my income,… but what income? The money my accounts paid me to do the work, I came to find out was really my blood, sweat, and tears… all converted into currency. I should not have to pay any taxes on it! I had really no income to speak of, come to think of it, as then, I had to pay my workers too, and they took a sizable chunk out of what I made… They had to put food on the table even more than I did, They had kids, and more… So, I cut back, and back,… until I had only one helper. I made enough, but not enough to hire a fulltime employee. See, had the tax rates been low for me, I could have grown my business. But, no, they were not, and so….
What Washington, D.C. should do too, is to cut back…
As I see it, they are paying people who do not even work for them! Look at the millions here living on his dole. Many of them have gotten on the welfare rolls – somehow, and I add, are not qualified one bit to be there too! And all over the world, there are people on the take as well. If the government were to really get serious about things, I can assure you, billions, if not trillions could be saved by year’s end.
Look at what our military is costing us too! The money that is being bled from the treasury – just because we have to be the world’s police force. I served in the Air Force, and am honorably retired, and so, I can put in my two-cents’ worth here. Our military does not have to have all the fancy hi-tech jets anymore. The un-manned drones will soon be our first-line fighters, and so, ax out the current stealth program. We are fine with our present fighter forces. We can save a ton of money, right there.
Then, cut back on our involvement in South West Asia. Pull back our forces so that our southern borders can be secured. Before long, with our forces working back home, our need to grow our military with volunteers will diminish. Again, save another ton of money there! And put the money in medical research, and make the USA the top life-saving hospital to the world. Let all the sick of the world come here to find healing. I am sure that alone will boost our status in evey country’s eyes. Plus make the world a much more friendly place.
Talking about health and healing, ax Obamacare. Just tweak the parts of our health system that need to be improved. Like getting health care costs pared down… No need to drastically change things. I have military health care, and I can say this, it is very good. It is based on how one takes care of oneself, and let me say this: that is the best policy. Loook at the sick in our country and you will come to understand that the whole health and wellness philosophy has to be revamped. Americans live with no though of tomorrow, by and large. Their lifestyle is high risk, one that is fraught with carelessness, ignorance and neglect. Most of the sick got sick because they had too much of everything. Too much booze, too much smokes, too much fat… too much of “who gives a hoot”… ” And sadly, too little work. And instead of correcting that part, our healthcare system seems to want to live off of it! This selfish greed needs to stop.
And talking about greed, I have to add, that, “bigger is better” mindset. Americans want everything to be big… And what better place to see this than – the way they regard their “pride and joy.” Their cars. Every year, we see more and more cars out on the road with engines that seem to go up and up in the horsepower department. Is there any need for a 500 horsepower car in this day and age? No. Most of us drive sensible cars. or trucks. We pay not much money to drive. But these clowns who drive the 500 fire-breathing horsepower monsters pay the same. Should they not be paying more? Just going across the board nationally, and getting the whole car registration payment scale looked at, and put on a fair, but firm pro-rated plan would bring in trillions annually. Sufficient to pay of the national debt. To balance things, take down a couple notches the house taxes. Help those who are really in need of a hand. Hot-rod boy racers will pay whatever, to burn rubber. Give them the opportunity to do so, and help the country get out of debt.
I can go on, but I may get thrown off this page! So, I had better stop. I have a list of to-dos a yard long to help fix things,… but, next time!
Don
Thank you for a well written and clear analysis of the problems facing the American people. I am in agreement with many of your views. What is needed however are solutions to these problems. Yes education is bad but how do you make substantial improvements? Yes the national debt is bad but how do you change the direction? Yes the housing situation is bad but how do you change that direction?
In sddition to some of the suggestions made by John Shanton I would add a few here:
We have no compelling need to dominate the world with about 900 military bases in dozens of countries. Phase them out over the next few years.
Remove the troops ( 100% ) from Iraq within two months.
Stop all Federal subsidies for private companies.
Replace the Income Tax with a consumption tax.
Etc.
Rich