Enact: Cut, Cap and Balance

Democracy and Power 104: Future Debt Burden

A government debt is a government claim against personal income and private property – an unpaid tax bill. – Hans F. Sennholz,

All democracies institute programs for current voters and shift the debt to future workers, even the unborn. 

Enact:  Cut, Cap and Balance

Will America survive and excel?  Can popularly-elected politicians reduce the debt?  Can popularly-elected politicians be trusted to maintain a sound fiscal policy for future generations?

Nearly universally, popularly-elected governments are fiscally bankrupt, and the cause is always the same.  Elected politicians please present-day voters at the expense of future workers.  Remember, government debt is an unpaid tax bill.  California, Greece, Illinois, Ireland, New York, Italy, America and hundreds of government have enormous debt.

For centuries, self governance has advanced civilization.  Beneficially, personal freedom and prosperity have accelerated.  Dangerously, though, today freedom and prosperity are endangered by enormous government debt.  Debt has destroyed many great nations and threatens America and most modern democracies.

French economist Jacques Attali states the dangers: [Read: http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/teda/the-west-and-the-tyranny-of-public-debt]

The history of public debt is the very history of national power: how it has been won and how it has been lost. …  But never, outside periods of total war, has the debt of the world’s most powerful states grown so immense. Never has it so heavily threatened their political systems and standards of living. Public debt cannot keep growing without unleashing terrible catastrophes.

Senators Jin DeMint, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Ron Johnson and Marco Rubio recognize the dangers of debt, as reported in Politico, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/74097_Page2.html:  

In recent years, under presidents and Congresses of both parties, we have racked up yawning deficits and mushrooming debt that now pose a danger to America as we know it.

America must face the reality and dangers of debt.  These Senators are sponsoring Cut, Cap and Balance.  The Cut, Cap and Balance legislation is absolutely necessary to force Congress and the President to make necessary reforms.  Again, the Senators state:

We called on Congress to cut unnecessary, and unconstitutional, spending immediately, cap future spending in line with average historical revenues and send a balanced budget constitutional amendment to the states for ratification

Last year, the House of Representative passed a Cut, Cap and Balance, which called for a 50% decrease in the deficit, capping federal sending at 18% of Gross Domestic Product and approved a balance budget amendment.  [Read: http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/teda/cut-cap-balance]

Immorally, America’s political elites have intentionally failed to be fiscally responsible.  The Senators know Cut, Cap and Balance must be enacted – now.

One generation of political leaders has already failed to meet this challenge – we literally cannot afford another.

Obviously, America needs the majority of our Senators and the President to enact fiscal sanity.  This will only be achieved by pressure from us, the voters.

Every citizen must tell every politician, “The debt is enormous and threatens our freedom and prosperity.  Support the Cut, Cap and Balance legislation NOW.”   Only when the citizens demand fiscal restraints will the politicians make the necessary changes.

The great gains associated with self-government – civil rights, universal suffrage, prosperity –  are threatened because of deliberate fiscal mismanagement.  Cut, Cap and Balance is absolutely necessary to restrain the governing elites from bankrupting America.