{"id":593,"date":"2013-01-03T11:31:24","date_gmt":"2013-01-03T15:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jparnell.com\/blog\/?p=593"},"modified":"2013-01-03T11:31:24","modified_gmt":"2013-01-03T15:31:24","slug":"the-way-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/?p=593","title":{"rendered":"The way out"},"content":{"rendered":"

The proverbial can has been kicked down the road again. We have officially averted the so-called fiscal cliff by raising taxes. Any spending cuts in the deal are meaningless and will be forgotten when the next stimulus bill is proposed. The next \u201ccrisis\u201d on the docket is raising the debt ceiling so we can continue this insanity unabated.<\/p>\n

This was a bad experience for the Republicans, who seemed unable to articulate a clear fiscal vision for the country. Obama certainly controls the mainstream media spin, but the political opposition can do much better. The way out of this mess is not easy but involves 3 steps.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Acknowledge the problem.<\/em><\/strong> This should be a no-brainer with a $16 trillion national debt and a trillion-plus added each year.\u00a0 Many Americans actually believe that the income tax hike in the tax bill will produce enough revenue to make a difference (assuming that the net effect is positive). They believe in the gurus and magicians at the Fed who appear to keep the money flowing in the face of economy calamity. My guess is that a little less than half of us understand that something is seriously wrong. We need a strong majority in this camp before we can move to #2.<\/li>\n
  2. Promote a radical tax overhaul until it passes.<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>I like the Fair Tax option, but a flat tax is easier to achieve. The current approach is wrong in two key respects. (1) Economically, the current system is massively inefficient, requiring a huge federal bureaucracy to interpret and enforce, and billions in compliance costs for individuals and businesses. Instead of doing what is in our best economic interest, we make choices that minimize our tax burden. (2) Morally, the current tax maze exists to redistribute income and buy votes, all in the name of equality and social justice.<\/li>\n
  3. Cut spending<\/em><\/strong>. Overspending is the real cause of the current crisis, but addressing it will be very difficult. As one example\u2014setting the privatization argument aside for the time being\u2014raising the eligibility age for Social Security benefits and modifying the system used (currently the CPI-W) to calculate annual increases would represent a move in the right direction. Declawing regulators is part of the solution as well. Government spending should be Constitutional, nothing more and nothing less.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Politically, the Republicans in Washington have given lip service to #1, but have failed to articulate a serious solution, #2 and #3. As a group, they seem content to talk about bipartisan negotiations designed to tweak the system rather than overhaul it. The problem is beyond tweaking, however, and many Americans don\u2019t see the clear demarcation between Republican action and Obama\u2019s rhetoric for a \u201cbalanced approach.\u201d Whenever conservatives lack clarity, they lose.<\/em><\/p>\n

    The inconvenient truth is that the range of spending cuts required in #3 will be painful. Many Americans have become unnecessarily dependent on federal programs, and the majority of us receive indirect short-term<\/em> benefits from Washington\u2019s overspending. For example, expansions in WIC programs create business for grocers and food producers. Agricultural subsidies are inefficient, but certain good prices are lower as a result. Various housing programs create bubbles down the road, but can reduce today\u2019s mortgage payment. I believe a majority of Americans\u2014if properly informed\u2014will be willing to accept the pain necessary to get our house in order, as long as the approach is sweeping, comprehensive, and makes a difference. The operative phrase here is \u201cproperly informed.\u201d We have a lot of work ahead of us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The proverbial can has been kicked down the road again. We have officially averted the so-called fiscal cliff by raising taxes. Any spending cuts in the deal are meaningless and will be forgotten when the next stimulus bill is proposed. The next \u201ccrisis\u201d on the docket is raising the debt ceiling so we can continue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}