Fiscal Cliff Battle, AFTAR (after action report)

Basic Math of our National Fiscal debacle and why it's ALL ABOUT THE SPENDING. It is now and always was a ratio of 90% spending and only 10% revenue. President Obama said "we can't cut our way to a balanced budget", we HAD to raise taxes on the rich to solve the problem. Here is why we have either a completely incompetent President or just a "misleader in chief" in office now for fiour more years. Now with the fiscal cliff deal done, here is how it pencils out.  Our national debt is $16.4 TRILLION. We spend about $3.8 BILLION per day to fund the US government and it's obligations/programs. We are borrowing about half of every dollar we spend. So.... just to STOP THE DEFICIT SPENDING (not adding to the debt, but NOT reducing it either) we need to INCREASE revenues and/or CUT spending by $1.9 BILLION per day. The fiscal cliff deal "increased" revenues by $164 MILLION per day (some economists predict less than half that amount but lets give Obama the benefit of the doubt on it and give him the full amount). OR about 4.5% of total daily spending, lets go ahead and round it up to 5% and apply it all to unfunded outlays. So now our daily deficit spending is "only" $1.736 Billion per day! The new tax increases reduce the total daily deficit spending amount by only 10%!  President Obama and Democrats didn't do anything the GOP wanted to do about spending in this deal. So now our dilemma is this Mr. Obama and Liberals;  YOU got your tax increases on the rich, now to stop the deficit spending and borrowing, we must find 90 cents in cuts for your 10 cents you got in raised revenue JUST to balance the budget. We have to have even MORE than 90% in cuts to start reduction of the massive debt that has been loaded onto the backs of every taxpayer and citizen of the U.S. threatening our economic growth and future. I don't know how to explain it any more simply, and I can't understand why the GOP leadership hasn't articulated it effectively or logically to the citizens of this nation, but basically if this is how things are going to be "fixed" going forward; we are truly in deep trouble as a Nation. It should come as no surprise to anyone why President Obama was demanding Congress give up and hand over to him the Constitutional authority Congress has over spending and debt-limit increases as part of the Fiscal Cliff deal? I don't think even the majority of Democrats in the House would vote for that.

3.8 Billion (Total daily spending amount for U.S. Govt.)
-1.9 Billion Daily obligations FUNDED and paid for by existing revenues (pre Fiscal Cliff Deal)
 1,900,000,000 (1.9Billion is daily deficit spending and is 50%of all daily Spending)

  -164,000,000 164 Million (Fiscal Cliff deal revenues compliments of the Bourgeois class as a daily amt)
 1,736,000,000 1.736 Billion Daily UNFUNDED deficit daily spending  BORROWING (Post Fiscal Cliff Deal)

There must be cuts going forward  in the next few months (lets start working on this in earnest now and not wait until the last minute) as part of the debt limit increase and then the sequestered cuts. Failure to do so and we will deservedly face another Credit rating downgrade and the increased interest of our debt will blow the above formula out of the water. The debt limit MUST not be raised without solid, concrete agreements for spending REDUCTIONS, not cuts in increases, or "goals" as the President tried with the fiscal cliff deal. Legislated reductions and cuts that can be put in place and into law, zero based budgeting cuts should be the standard or no more debt increases. PERIOD. Only a vibrant, expanding, and unshackled economy can increase and grow revenues necessary to undo the straight jacket of mega deficits and debt burdening on our economy that has stymied and sent us into this malaise and stagnation we find ourselves in.

One look at this chart below clearly shows the spending and revenue outlays for the past 20 years illustrating the trends and unsustainable path we are on. 

Click Chart to Enlarge/Enhance Image
 

 

 

This path does not lead to a future of prosperity or security for our Nation and it's citizens. We cannot cast off our responsibility and sacrifice the future of our children and grandchildren condemming them to mediocrity and hardship for the sake of our generations irresponsible spending and inability to make the hard decisions and choices to ensure their futures and our National destiny.

Michael R. Bednarz

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