I understand that I can't make anyone move from their ideological and partisan interests and instead focus on the great fiscal threat that this nation faces in the future. I can only provide a template for analysis and help you to analyze the analysts.
I was personally changed back in early 2006 when I attended the Concorde Coalition's "Fiscal Wake Up Tour". This bipartisan group of economists and financial specialists compelled me with their evidence that I had to move my own outlook in the area of sovereign financing from ideological "transactionism" toward a more focused concern about aligning our key institutions in the nation with their proper function - including concerns about the fiscal viability.
In this seminar David Walker stated that the next President Of The United States (who was unknown in 2006) must level with the American people and tell us that:
- We are going to have to all pay more in taxes
- We are going to have to expect less from the government
In listening to the various voices in the media discussing the failure of the "Super Committee" and the partisan battle between Obama/Democrats and the Republicans - their inability (and corruptness) to move away from their "play by play" of the battle upon the field and instead focus on the precious fiscal situation that this nation is in - should be disturbing to everyone who is sane.
Some guidance: The true spirit of an analyst can be uncovered by the CONTEXT from which he presents his information When you hear the Democrat/Republican gamesmanship more than a central focus upon the growing insolvency of this nation you should assume them to be political/ideological operatives, regardless of who they claim they are.
We have operatives doing back flips over the notion that about $200 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR is going to be cut for the next 10 years. They note that "Obama has shown backbone" as he threatened to block any attempt to remove the automatic cuts that were set up if the Super Committee failed.
If you don't understand that for the past 3 years we have had more than $1,200+ BILLION in spending excesses EACH YEAR(!!!!) then you too will be taken by these theatrics. What good is $200 billion off of the top of this amount as we go into the future series of deficits above??
(Note - I am not "just" blaming President Obama for this situation. The entire set of operatives in the federal government are to blame.)
Look carefully at the diagram above.
The area between the tip of each bar down to the black dot in the "Revenue" like represents the DEFICIT. The gap between what is spent and what is received in as revenues. The projections from the Congressional Budget Office told us previously that no year in the next 10 will have a deficit smaller than $600 billion and that several are beyond $1,000. How then are to express joy over this spending cuts package that is a mere fraction of the spending short fall that is anticipated?
When you are compelled to focus on a "win for your team" -
- The Republicans holding their ground on refusing to allow tax increases seems like they are waging a good fight
- The Democrats holding their ground - protecting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security while the Defense Department takes the hit seems like they are defending "the working people"
They laid out a comprehensive spread sheet that said that while it is true that we are not going to "tax our way out of this situation" - indeed the wealthy need to expect to pay more in taxes. They need to understand that their wealth will be diminished greatly if the country's government loses its credit worthiness.
They also noted that the Big 3 Entitlement Programs are the main growth areas of the economy with the Interest Paid On Debt quickly catching up. They showed that interests servicing is going to exceed the defense spending if something is done. We could shut down the Department of Defense, NASA and several other expenditures and this STILL is not going to put the spiraling debt in check. Why would you place your faith in these Big 3 Entitlement programs if they are founded on fiscal quicksand?
The Operatives Who Have Nothing Beyond Partisan Advantage In Mind
I make no bones about it that I am more in line with "conservative fiscal - market based" approaches than the alternatives to the left. As such I heard Bill O'Reilly show that despite presenting both sides he still favored the Republican position thus he is out of sync with Concorde. I heard several analysts on the various financial shows over the past few days talking in terms of the interests of the investor class. Thus they too are not in line with Concorde's warnings.
The biggest jolt to my system, however, came from watching MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell. While he and O'Reilly are on the opposite side of the ideological spectrum - his antics as seen in the video below
caused me to assume a "deer in the headlights" position as I listened in.
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O'Donnell argues that the key priorities of the Democratic Party were protected as Defense gets hit while the Big 3 Entitlement programs are spared. I suggest that Mr O'Donnell view the animated model put forth by Concorde that shows that what was "spared" IS the most substantial growth area in spending. Left unchecked many people will be just like a lawsuit winner with a multi-million judgement against a homeless man who can't pay out. The $15,000,000,000,000 budget deficit was not mentioned as O'Donnell proclaimed that thanks to political strategy ---- we are back on the road to fiscal sanity.
He proclaimed that TAX POLICY rather than innovation and Wall Street financial hijinx triggered the economic boom during the "Internet Bubble".
While there is no doubt that I have ideological difference with Mr O'Donnell - it is clear that many of the people that I debate against are lulled into a state of mental obfuscation as they focus on the football game that is before them.
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