It's the economic hammerlock we're in. First, we need to get the recovery going because without a stronger recovery this high unemployment is going to go on and on. It's going to go on hurting people – men and women, old and young and in between, people who really want to work, work full-time, but can't find work. Second, we need to deal with the ballooning federal debt, now up to $14 trillion. Yesterday, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, who are chairing President Obama's fiscal commission, gave us the horror. Believe it or not, right now – July 12, 2010 – the total amount of federal taxes covers only three federal purposes:
- Social Security
- Medicare
- Medicaid
The checks you pay to the government go to paying those three. That's it! Everything else the government does, like defending the country and fighting two wars, is borrowed from China or somewhere else. So there you have it – the two realities. People expect government to do its part in driving a stronger recovery and getting good people to work. If you're a conservative, that probably argues for tax cuts. If you're a progressive, you may want to spend on infrastructure to create jobs while investing in the country's economic growth. But if we're going to close the federal deficit even ten years from now, we have to cut a trillion dollars, by either cutting, spending or adding taxes. Find it boring? Rather think about Lindsay Lohan's parole violation or Mel Gibson's latest tirade? Go to it, but somebody better be figuring this one out.