IT'S THE TEA PARTY'S FAULT! BUSH IS OFF THE HOOK!

According to liberals, it was all President Bush's fault for every bad thing that's happened in our country. Now almost 3 years into the Obama presidency, the Democratic talking point is that the Tea Party is responsible for the downgrade of the nation's credit rating from AAA to AA+ by Standard & Poor.

Of course, anyone who has had any interest in the debt ceiling fiasco knows that the Tea Party representatives have been calling for an end to runaway government spending and were opposed to raising the debt ceiling. That must be why the S&P lowered the credit rating, because the Tea Party wanted the government to spend LESS money!

As it now stands, the federal government owes more in debt ($14 trillion) than we as a nation are producing over an entire year (2010 - $14 trillion). And we have to pay it all back, plus interest! Could that possibly be why S&P thought the US was not as good a credit risk as it has been in the past?

If any of us spent more than we earned and accumulated huge credit card bills, do you think Equifax would give us a AAA rating? Of course not! The same thing that would happen to us as individuals will happen to the economy because of the government's irresponsible spending. The US will pay higher interest rates on the existing debt and will have a more difficult time getting credit for future debt.

When the government takes more money from the economy to pay its own debts, there is less money available for the free market. That trickles down to us in the form of higher interest rates and higher prices. President Obama has had the Treasury Department just print money to cover the shortfalls! Both these things are tinder for INFLATION.

Democrat bureaucrats don't seem to be living in the real world. We are! We are the ones who will PAY the taxes and PAY the higher interest rates and PAY the higher prices! We are the ones who PAY for the irresponsible spending of Congress and the President.

I think the economy is going to decline even more in the next year. My advice - get yourself out of debt and try to get yourself in the most secure economic situation that you can. Don't buy on credit and don't borrow money unless you have no other choice. Stock up on food and items that you need on a regular basis (prices will go up). Save money and create a little next egg for yourself. Be prepared.

(PS - I'm a member of the Tea Party!)

(PPS - I lived through the Jimmy Carter presidency when interest rates rose to 22%!)

Raise the debt ceiling?

For years Congress has been "kicking the can down the road" with the debt ceiling situation. The "can" has hit the wall! If the US continues to raise the debt ceiling, and Congress continues to spend, within a decade we will not be able to make the interest payments on the enormous debt. This problem is in a critical phase. A constitutional balanced budget amendment is what we need but is not a popular topic amongst the big spenders in Congress!

The current upheaval about raising the debt ceiling has only created more uncertainty and is contributing to the continuing slowdown of the economy and the job market. Ideally the best thing for the future would be to NOT raise the debt ceiling. Realistically, if the debt ceiling is conservatively raised and matched with equal or greater spending reductions, that would help the economy tremendously. The US could protect it's economic standing in the world's financial markets.

Contrary to the "scare tactics" used by President Obama, basic entitlements like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid could be protected for those who need them. There are innumerable ways that spending on nonessentials in government can be reduced or eliminated, saving billions of dollars.

What definitely won't work is RAISING TAXES on any segment of our society during difficult economic times. President Obama espouses "class envy" where we are supposed to want to beat the "rich" with a tax stick! Those are the very taxpayers who create the majority of jobs in the US. Raising taxes takes away from their ability to employ people and provide goods and services. These are the taxpayers who are already paying the lions share of the tax revenue! Effective tax CUTS would go a long way toward stimulating the economy. Making the rich poorer is not going to make the poor richer.

President Obama wants a tax increase so that he and his party can continue to spend and control our lives with taxation and regulation. His theoretical proposals are all smoke and mirrors, intended to seem effective but without real merit. His rhetoric has faulty logic. He and his administration have exhibited an astounding lack of understanding of economics. He certainly has figured out how to make the economy worse, however!

Now is the time to stand firm and support economic common sense. Insist on reduced spending to match or exceed any debt limit increase. Insist that taxes are not raised for anyone when our economy is on such a slow track. Don't buy into the "class warfare" mentality. Believe me, if Obama gets his way, the poor and the rich alike will suffer.

Back on the Blog

My last post was in October, 2010! That's about the time we started working on building our new home. Building the house has dominated our lives for the last year. Now it done, we've moved in, and I'm getting back the time to comment on what's happening in our world. Just in time to get working on my blog before the very important 2012 elections. Let the fun begin!