Wow! America's leaders averted the fiscal cliff!

Wow! Our leaders averted the fiscal cliff!

Why don't I feel relieved? As this latest example of the political theater of the absurd unfolded in Washington, our elected leaders again proved they cannot take meaningful actions to prevent our nation's continuing march down the path to financial ruin.

Both sides then retreated to their typical truth-spinning mode to persuade their respective loyalists only they stood strong in this fight for fiscal responsibility.

Neither side's BS is worth wasting our time on because their rhetoric continues to ignore the more significant financial danger our nation's future generations face. This recent attempt to reach a non-partisan agreement, at best, smooths out a small speed bump on our continuing path of unsustainable debt expansion.

Approximately 78 million baby boomers recently began reaching the age of 65. The last of them will arrive there by 2030. During their projected life-spans as retirees they have been promised Social Security, Medicare, and Medicare Prescription benefits (some call these entitlements). The expenses for all of which remain completely unfunded. The only options available to pay for these expenses are increased borrowing, taxes, or reduced benefits...or all three. If you go to www.debtclock.org and scan to the bottom of the page, you will see a projection of over $122 trillion in these unfunded but promised expenses during the boomers' life-spans. It doesn't take a mathematician to understand it will be impossible for a nation already so deeply in debt to fully meet the boomers' expectations.

If our elected federal lawmakers' history can predict future results, it's clear they will collectively end up doing what no external enemy has ever accomplished...ruin the greatest nation which ever existed. Our lawmakers' need to retain power has overwhelmed their ability to act in the best long-term interests of most Americans.

What can ordinary citizens do? Clearly we won't use the ballot to make changes. In the recent election over 94% of incumbents were retained...even with an overall congressional approval rating of 9%. Heck, too many of us won't even vote. Individual cards, letters, and phone calls to our elected are too few and also have no impact.

A good friend of mine recently requested I sign a petition containing reasonable solutions and asked me to encourage others do the same.

I'm sure you are familiar with President Obama appointing Alan Simpson(R) and Erskine Bowles(D) to lead a non-partisan committee shortly after he was first elected. Mr. Obama charged them with developing a responsible long-term plan to reduce our deficit spending and debt.

This non-partisan committee did exactly as requested and presented what is now known as the Simpson-Bowles plan (SBP) to our President. Their recommendations called for gradual implementation of tax increases and spending cuts. It mathematically assured our debt problems would be solved with the least amount of pain to our economy and the majority of Americans. The committee's recommendations were promptly ignored by both sides because constituents on the right would not support tax increases and those on the left felt the same way about spending reductions...and neither side had the courage to risk the next election's fallout.

Our President then creating an even larger, non-partisan, “Super Committee” charged with the exact same objective. This committee couldn't reach a compromise agreement. Instead they created a “poison pill” with identified reductions in spending and revenue enhancements (taxes) to be automatically triggered at the end of 2012 if no solutions had been reached by our lawmakers. This predictable failure led to the creation of the“fiscal cliff” terminology.

Simpson and Bowles are so discouraged by the lack of actions by our political leaders, they have requested ordinary citizens get involved by signing an on-line petition supporting the Simpson-Bowles recommendations. They hope we will sign the petition in sufficient numbers to signal our support of this logical plan. This will also send a clear signal We The People understand the shared sacrifice we must all make to repair the damages from decades of failed political leadership.

I have signed the petition and hope you will consider doing the same, and pass it on to everyone on your email list. It doesn't matter to which party you do or don't belong, we must find the collective courage to unite as Americans first in fighting for our nation's solvency. We all know our elected leaders will never find the wisdom to act appropriately if left on their own. Their need to retain power and serve their election-funding lobbyists is simply too powerful.

I have heard many Americans say they paid for these entitlements and deserve their full payout. It's simply not mathematically possible for all of these promises to be kept. Failure to immediately begin to slowly adjust benefits will inevitably result in a financial crash of epic proportions which will make the Great Depression seem like a picnic. I hope you will sign the Simpson and Bowles petition, and send a strong signal of our dissatisfaction.

Please go to www.fixthedebt.org, and read their ideas.

Mike Tower
miketower@bellsouth.net

I also invite you to visit the blog of a good pal of mine at:  Lee's Political Opinions, and I alsohope you will visit the site for our jointly founded organization:  Citizens Against Politics As Usual