It's Time For The U.
S.
Government To Live Within Its Means Regardless of the wheeling and dealing that's been going on for weeks in the hallowed halls of Washington, there is no good reason to raise the federal government's debt ceiling.
Ever.
Liberals (most of them in the Democrat party) insist that, if the ceiling is not raised by the Republican-controlled Congress by August 2, the United States will default on its debt.
They insist that the Republicans cut a "deal" whereby they agree to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts.
And the president and his party also insist that any deal include "revenue increases" - tax hikes, no matter how they're dressed in political language.
There are many problems with this, of course, from the conservative perspective (indeed, from the perspective of the nation's economic survival).
First, from the bait-and-switch "deal" that killed George H.
W.
Bush's career by forcing him to break his "no new taxes" pledge, to the false claim by Bill Clinton that "the era of Big Government is over," to the recent budget battles since the new Congress took over in January, the liberals promise spending cuts but NEVER deliver anything more than token slowing to their endless thirst for spending the peoples' money.
Second, of course, the Republicans simply can NOT agree to any increases in taxation.
Period.
The government does not need more from the people who pay taxes in this country.
They need to spend less, and that's the whole story.
Third, the notion that the August 2 deadline will cause America to default on its debt is balderdash.
The administration is Constitutionally required to pay its debt (see Section Four of the 14th Amendment); only after those payments are made can the government consider spending on entitlements and other programs.
Conservatives rightly point out that more borrowing would only make things worse, leading eventually to the complete collapse of the entitlement programs that comprise the lion's share of government spending.
So raising the borrowing ceiling would be the worst thing the government could do.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio put it succinctly the other day when he said it was time to stop talking about new taxes and start insisting on creating new taxpayers.
He's right.
If the government would get out of the way (by lowering taxes), the free market would create a flood of jobs...
jobs which would be taken by people who would then stop taking tax payments (in the form of unemployment compensation), and start making them.
If the federal government wants more revenue to spend, it knows how to get it: cut taxes.
Sharply.
If the income tax were cut to 15% (or lower) across the board, and corporate taxes to about the same level, a flood of investment would pour into this country the likes of which have never been seen in history.
People would board planes to bring great ideas to America, to start a business, to build wealth...
not to hijack the plane and kill thousands.
Eventually millions more taxpayers would be paying billions more in taxes, and the sacred entitlement programs (Social Security and Medicare) would be secure.
One is forced to conclude that the administration doesn't really want more revenue.
They want to play class envy politics, make their opponents look like small-hearted pikers, and grab power.
It's as simple as that.
Read my lips, Republicans: don't raise the debt ceiling.
You in the Congressional majority have the power to force the liberal administration to live within its means, and it's high time you did so.
That's what we elected you to do.
by Michael D.
Hume, M.
S.