It's Arbor Day America

OK, somebody has to do something. It might have to be you and me, but it’s got to be somebody and it’s got to be now. We’re letting partisan buffoonery stand in the way of reason at exactly the wrong time.

Look, we’re facing economic crisis and I don’t mean mortgages, Wall Street, or unemployment. I mean you, me and our children. I mean national debt and I mean taxes. Think about this: my share of the national debt is $37,204 today. So is yours. So is each of your children’s. And it’ll be more tomorrow. And it’ll be more as the $787 billion bailout finds a way to fund itself.

There’s only a couple of ways to get that money. Either take more money in (increase taxes) or pay less money out (cut spending.) It’s really that simple. Honest. So who’s in favor of taking more money in? Taxes anyone? Bueller? I didn’t think so.

President Obama has proposed reviving the PAYGO practices and codifying them into law. (PAYGO basically says that if you want a dollar of spending you’ve got to cut a dollar of spending. Pay as you go. Get it?) Critics run to the right and say he is a hypocrite for requiring fiscal discipline after authorizing trillions in bailout money. I say phooey. The critics cannot simply say “you OK’d $787 billion in bailout so we’re not going to worry about being responsible with the taxpayer dollar either.” That, my friends, is partisan jack-assery getting in the way of your well being. And your children’s well being.

Now I’m not going to stand here in the glow of the old chestnut “I’ve got to live within my means, so why shouldn’t the government?” There are times for deficit spending. Just look at your local governments hamstrung by balanced budget laws. Just when things get tough economically they start raising taxes on you because you insisted they balance their budget. What I’m saying is the time for deficit spending is past. Sooner or later, er, sooner rather than later, we’re going to have to get some financial discipline in Washington.

So let’s take PAYGO out of the context of the bailout and put it into the context of fiscal responsibility. The prudent thing to do now, facing this huge debt, is to cut spending by more than one dollar for each new dollar spent. That’s right. More. I call it Super PAYGO. or SPAYGO. Or SUPAYGO, I'm not really sure yet. But if you want to spend $1 on guns, then cut $1.50 in butter. Raise the bar. Cut the expenses. But how on earth can the government cut, honestly cut, expenses? The same way corporate America does it. Get better at what you do. Streamline. Increase productivity. Nothing incents innovation more than hard times. Turn that spotlight onto the government and make them use your money more efficiently. Easier said than done, yes, but start saying it or it’ll never get done.

I don’t believe PAYGO needs to be a law (remember the hamstrung local governments.) It simply needs to be a practice enforced by our leadership. Don’t pass a bill with irresponsible spending in committee. Or on the House floor. Or the Senate. Or the White House. Don’t require that a law force you to act responsibly – do it yourself that’s why we elected you.

There’s an old adage that says the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is right now. Well, same goes for fiscal responsibility in Washington. It is time, America, to plant that tree. It is time before the idiocracy of super partisan politics causes generations of financial hardship. By the way, your share of the national debt went up one cent while you read this. So did your kid’s.