For all you "Bev Smith Show" listeners please allow me to give you another title that will be more appealing to you: "George W Bush Leaves President Obama In A World Of Financial Trouble - For The 3rd Straight Year".
Beyond that initial shot - this post will not be about politics.
I am trying to get some of you to rationalize the logic of looking toward this nationalized entity, which is clearly in massive trouble, for an increasing portion of your wherewithal.
The theory is - if we spend present debt money on targeted investments - the productivity gains of these investments will allow us to live a greater tomorrow. I get it.
The problem is - when "selling the future" is merely a scheme to retain your PRESENT standard of living, running up your debt, so you never have to scale back, closer to the living standard that your real productivity can afford you at present - you have not expressed sound fiscal management. What we have is a shell game.
This past Christmas as I committed to do the bulk of my shopping at a 'ghetto K-Mart' I was actually happy to see that the layaway line was back in full effect. Instead of running up credit debt, the long line of people were forced to bring cash money into the store before they could take their purchase home. The fact that the majority of their purchases were made in China is another story.
The bottom line of it all is that the present model of our national finance is not sustainable. To see several states and cities being functionally insolvent only adds to the concern.
The Need For Increased "Organic Competency Development" And Reduced Expectations
About 4 years ago I attended the 'Fiscal Wakeup Tour', put on by the Concorde Coalition. They warned about the serious financial threats to America that will confront us in 2017 - the start of the mass retirement of the baby boomers. They were not aware of the problems that we would later face in late 2007 and 2008.
The conclusion made by the panel of bi-partisan economists and policy makers was that in the future Americans will need to pay more in taxes and fees and expect far less in the way of entitlements and government services. Failing to accept this as the "new normal" will mean that our nation's very existence would be imperiled.
I would like to add a complementary component to that. "Competency Development" is not just a demand for increased productivity. It is a requirement that more people begin to acquire relevant skills to support the desired standard of living for their respective communities. This skill set will need to be deployed at the periphery - off loading the demands that would have otherwise been placed upon the central government.
There are always going to be more demands in existence than what the supply of resources can expect to fulfill. To load up the central government with all of these demands - allowing 536 people in the federal legislature and executive branch to parcel out the resources is a recipe for disaster.
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