Alone in the Car: Raising the Debt Ceiling

The federal government is $14.3 trillion in debt. Someone (I know, but said this deliberately because at this stage does it really matter?) wants to raise the debt limit to $16.8 trillion in debt. Think of your payment plan on your credit card, how much you pay per month, how much goes to interest (which is paid first), and how long it will take you to pay the balance off. You know how hard it is. Now think of $14/16 trillion's interest due and just like you, the government makes payment on the interest. We don't even have money to reduce the original bill.

The rhetoric has been incredible. I don't care if it is coming from the major parties or the minor one. I don't differentiate between them. Can you imagine what excuses any of them used when they didn't hand in a paper on time when they were in high school?

Do you realize the government had a surplus in 2001? The Treasury Department reported a budget surplus for that year of $127 billion, compared with $237 billion for 2000. Granted 2000 was better, but we still had a surplus, the last year we had one. So in 10 years we went from $127 billion in the black to $14.3 trillion in the red. That is quite some spending spree.

I am not here to debate why. Everyone likes to point fingers and usually there is some truth to most. In other words, it is complicated and everyone contributed to the causes. What is most important now is what to do with the problem.

These are very simplified solutions and people smarter than me would have to take these basic concepts and ramp them up a bit, but I think you will get the idea.

1. I don't see too much "on the ground" real information getting through the beltway barricade. So we will just have to make do with what we've got. Make every congressman/woman and their staff work at McDonald's, et.al for a week. There are certainly enough fast food restaurants inside the beltway to make this work. McDonald's is a global company, it is about customer service, it is about logistics and timing, wearing a uniform and working all shifts. Give them real life experiences. Hopefully this will clear out the cobwebs and get them to think of what is important and how to implement a real plan of action.

2. Wipe away the tax code and charge everyone a 10% tax. Poor people who spend little would hardly pay any tax; those wealthier and supposedly with more discretionary income would pay more taxes. It is equitable, fair, and easy to keep track of. There are many who don't file taxes, so I would be willing to consider a 10% sales tax under this same premise. Even drug dealers buy things and yet don't file taxes, but having a sales tax may actually increase the government coffers.

3. "Adopt an Agency" or "Adopt a program, department, policy,...." Citizens get to choose where their taxes go to. Instead of the representatives in Congress decide, voters decide. We would rather have a representative form of government, but it isn't working too well lately. So bring it back and have the "stock holders" vote directly until things can be fixed and a day-to-day group can run it again.

4. Put the full resources of the federal government behind several new discoveries/ideas/inventions. They truly change the course of human endeavors on the planet and the patents belong to the government. Profits from the sale of such products go directly to paying off the debt.

5. Sell off Hawaii. Native Hawaiians consider their islands as a country. Give them that opportunity.
Likewise, there may be other areas that would like to buy the land. A native culture would have to prove it truly is an independent culture before it became a state, could be self sustaining, etc. etc.