I think any rational improvement in the US has to start with the premise that the government(s) spend less. And that means from the Presidential Air Force One right down to the seven man police force in Nowhereville, Yourstate.
And if that means pay cuts and pension cuts and less travel for government employees and less social security cost of living adjustment then that is what it means.
It also has to mean higher taxes not drastic increases which are counterproductive. Some boost in capital gains rates, federal fuel taxes, the highest income tax rates, and at the other end perhaps not writing as much of your mortgage interest off.
Memo to pols: Lot of luck finding capital gains to tax this year.
We have a lot of fiscal problems. They seem overwhelming. IMO until we break the mindset that government spends more in bad times and more in good times and can never cut programs we will not solve anything.
I am not proposing massive cuts. I am proposing a new deal. The government faces reality and politicians have the guts to begin what is needed. People will take pain if they think it comes with medicine. They won’t if they think it comes with BS.
Other things I would do: No bailouts. Nada, zip. When you go broke you use the system created for broken stuff; the Bankruptcy Courts.
Tell our allies that WW2 is over, the Cold War is over, and we won’t be over there anymore. Withdraw from NATO and Europe. Ditto Korea, and whatever is left in Japan and Okinawa.
I don’t like Obama but he is right that military costs must be cut. It looks more like he may mangle than adjust. A Secretary Of Defense must be given the power to cut, be supported when the howls start, and have the sense to do it right. I hope we get that person.
Our entanglements in the Middle East and Asia must end. That might take years but the goal must be stated and preparations started. The peoples of these areas have to run things without our power. As a practical matter, the power cannot be sustained militarily or economically for much longer.
I personally think we face two bad decades. The first will be extemely bad under any conditions. And what we do in the first will determine if the second is absolutely horrible or better than the first.
