Our national debt under President George W. Bush has ballooned to over $10 trillion, eroding the purchasing power of the dollar. State governments across the nation are facing crippling deficits. Unemployment continues to rise, and in states like Ohio, has passed 7%. In August, U.S. News and World Report wrote that "the average American with a credit file is responsible for $16,635 in debt, excluding mortgages." In a word, our current spending policies in this country are unsustainable, like those of a 16-year-old shopaholic.
Whether it's the federal, state, local government or citizens themselves, Americans spend far too much. We've experienced immense prosperity over the last 15 or so years. When we have had economic problems, they've been short, and the solution, as provided by our government, is to go out and shop.
To get back on track, we're going to experience some pain. Although Obamaniacs don't think so, change is inevitably painful, whether sooner or later. As an elementary example, if you change your daily habits to include working out, you deal with the necessary pain of exercising, but you later reap the benefits. If you change your habits to stop working out, you will eventually feel the pain of increased medical bills/insurance rates and health problems sometime in your future, and you will likely look terrible and feel more insecure about yourself. Regardless, change is eventually painful. The key is to make the pain constructive: to make it work towards an achievable and desirable goal whose benefits eventually outweigh its costs.
Our federal and state governments have to be whipped into shape. We have to get smarter. We have to adapt to our changing world. First, in order for America to continue to be the superpower it is today, we have to find a more sustainable way to combat those who wish us harm around the world. While I would contend that our actions in the Middle East during the Bush Administration have done more good than harm, I recognize that the use of preventive war is far too economically cumbersome to be seriously considered as a major facet of our foreign policy going forward. We have to find a more cost-effective way to combat terrorism and rogue states without invading.
Second, we have to seriously cut back on domestic spending. Cutting defense spending and increasing federal income taxes is just not enough. We can't afford to bail out state after state because they are unable to find money to pay for the services they want to provide. We should maintain educational standards and spending, but states have to cut back on nonessential programs to be able to make ends meet.
There are a multitude of other things that have to change in this country, but the cold, hard fact of the matter is: governments need to return to truly conservative principles, becoming once again agents of defense and arbiters of justice, oversight, and regulation, with few exceptions.
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