Tea party for patriots who want to preserve greatness of the country
Posted by AWB in PoliticsGuest post by Ric Runestad
“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” — Thomas Jefferson
This Saturday at 11 a.m., a crowd will gather on the Allen County Courthouse lawn to protest the massive expansion of the federal government.
The motivations for the “Enough Already” tea party are numerous, but all center on the belief that the current enlargement of government will serve to deprive the citizenry of their liberties over time.
The flashpoint for most of those attending is the government’s bailouts of financial firms that, in partnership with the government, are responsible for the current crisis.
With the size of the bailouts taken into consideration, the total federal, state and local government spending as a percentage of gross domestic production will top 40 percent.
This level of spending, in conjunction with the nationalizing of major banks and industries, has convinced many that we are no longer on the road to socialism, but have already arrived.
Most distressing of all is the way this spending is being financed.
Many Americans believe that when the federal government approves trillions of dollars in new spending, the money simply falls from the sky. The truth is, the government has only three ways of getting the money it spends. It can raise the money in taxes, borrow the money or some simply print the money it is spending.
The government’s plan calls for few new taxes up front. Most of this spending binge will be done with money that is borrowed or printed.
When a government has its central bank print extra money, a practice euphemistically called “monetizing debt,” it serves to debase the value of the currency and, in the case of the United States, jeopardize the dollar’s standing as the world’s reserve currency.
Hence, most of the government’s plan revolves around sinking our nation under ponderous debt.
The advantage of using debt is that it is painless at the time. Just as an irresponsible college student feels no discomfort as he runs up his father’s credit cards, so, too, the citizens feel no direct effect of running up the national debt to fund a short-term stimulus plan. The pain comes when the bill comes due.
In the case of the college student, the bill will often come due that semester, and the person they have hurt is their parent. However, they have plenty of time to pay the debt themselves.
When a nation of irresponsible adults racks up massive debts, the bill will be presented to its children and grandchildren, and the adults themselves will have no opportunity to right the situation.
Former U.S. comptroller general David Walker has laid out the very inconvenient truth of our nation’s indebtedness. In brief, it is fair to say that there exists no conceivable way the U.S. will be able to meet all its future entitlement commitments without towering future taxes, major cutbacks in guarantees, wholesale debasement of the dollar or some combination of these “solutions.” He started touring the nation to deliver his message even before the stimulus packages were added to the national debt.
We as a nation cannot afford this latest round of reckless spending, and the only lasting fruit it will bear will be the indentureship of our posterity that goes with indebtedness.
If you, too, regard yourself as a patriot who loves this country and wishes to see its greatness preserved for future generations, we urge you to join us Saturday to start having our voices be heard.
Ric Runestad is owner of Runestad Financial Services Ltd.
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Two of the most frustrating aspects of all of this are:
1. The total disregard of the media and our elected officials to simply pay attention to us, the middle class. We’re the ones (actually our kids and grandkids more so) that will end up (as always) “holding the bag” and “paying the bill”.
2. The absolute lack of vision and common sense on the part of our legislators. They can’t (or won’t) see farther ahead than the next election cycle.
Any American household with a modicum of common sense, (which is exactly what makes up the Tea Party protesters, as opposed to loons and paid picketers)) realizes that when money is tight, it is imperative to spend wisely, conserve capital for immediate needs to survive financially, because you want to be better off as your family grows and because it’s the right thing to do.
Let’s just say your heat bill is due Friday is $200, and you have $200 but not much more….
Do you………
A. Pay your heat bill on time, putting the little extra cash you have into a savings account or mattress of some sort to buy a more efficient furnace some time down the road when you can afford to?
OR
B. Even though you have a loan on your car, a loan on your spouses car, a loan on your home, and a fist full of credit cards with balances, You borrow another $15,000 and call the heating contractor and have them install a new geo-thermal heating system to lower your heating bill and of course save the planet.
(For those of you that are “history challenged” scenario A would apply pre-FDR and scenario 2 would apply to post-FDR.)
Our governent has chosen B over and over again since FDR to the tune of trillions of dollars, that I doubt can EVER be paid back.
What we are protesting, as a group of normal, hard working Americans is FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITY, plain and simple. It’s no longer about Republicans or Democrats, both have proven to be reckless stewards of OUR MONEY and financial security. We believe quite simply (and obviously), that government is the problem not the solution.