I have always expected that those elected to public office would be truthful and honest.

I never expected that our government would lie, cheat and steal from the citizens of this country. I could only imagine that the activity that is now the norm for our leaders could only occur in a science fiction novel or movie. A free society would never stand for government misrepresentations and outright lies to manipulate and control us. Apparently the sci-fi movies I saw and books I read as a young person that showed repressive tyrannical governments were just an introduction to the reality of today.

The most amazing part of all this is that the citizens of this country are really doing absolute nothing to stop the creation of a total tyrannical nanny state. The noise I hear in protest seems nothing more that the bleating of sheep as they are herded into their pens of tyrannical totalitarianism. The media enables the efforts of those who work to subjugate us by reporting false propaganda as facts and are complicit in in the promotion of fabricated crisis’s designed to scare and manipulate the uneducated and uniformed to a tyrannical end.

We have become nothing more than government live stock to be fed, housed and controlled for nothing more than income to the benefit of a ruling class. We are to be left with only what will minimally house, feed and entertain us. Those that protest too loudly are to be culled from the herd and labeled as deranged, dangerous, uncompassionate and criminal.

AND WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE THEM NOW?!!!!

No tax increases. No "Mini-Deal." No Pontius Pilate. JUST CUT SPENDING! Hear the American People when we say this: They told us Chevy trucks were unsafe, only to find out they had rigged the gas tanks with sky rockets; they told us Food Lion meat was tainted only to find out they had planted bad meat to help a union campaign against the food chain; they told us George W. Bush had tried to avoid active duty in the military only to find that the "documents" "proving" this were fake; they told us that if we spent 1 TRILLION dollars in so called "stimulus" money that our roads and bridges would get fixed and unemployment would go no higher than 8%; when Enron collapsed they told us the Sarbanes-Oxley law would prevent another crash but in 2008 there was another crash; they told us that we had to spend billions of dollars on TARP or the entire banking system would collapse and yet the "derivative" system that supposedly caused it is still in place; they told us that the era of big government was over but since 1962 the federal govt. has gotten 14 times bigger and welfare spending has increased by 13 times; they told us Obama's socialized medicine scheme would reduce costs but premiums have already soared and the CBO now says it will cost $2 trillion more; far left enviro-doomsayers like Paul Ehrlich said that the world would end and it would happen by the year 2000 due to a population boom; before that he said by 1980, "all important animal life in the sea will be extinct"*; we were told that alar, sprayed on apples, would cause cancer but were not told that test results were based on drinking 5000 GALLONS of apple juice per day; they have told us spending more money for education (and more government/union control) will make our kids smarter but test scores have declined for decades; they tell us there is no possible way government spending can be cut but spend billions of dollars studying shrimp on tread mills;** We were told that the Obama-Boehner Budget deal would cut $38.5 billion but then learned that it only "cut" $352 million and that the debt jumped $54 billion in the 8 days preceding the deal***; Democrats tell us if we don't raise the debt ceiling we're racists and yet Every Dem Senator including Obama voted against raising debt limit in 2006; Now Obama's tax cheat, Secretary of the Treasury Geithner, is telling us that if the debt ceiling is not raised so the federal government can borrow trillions more dollars the world is going to end....And we're supposed to believe them now?!!!! HOW FRAKIN' STUPID THEY THINK WE ARE?!!

*http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/cbo-obamacare-would-cost-over-2-trillion

**New York Post: Profits of Doom

***http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/26/tax-dollars-shrimp-treadmills-jell-o-wrestling/?sms_ss=email&at_xt=4de5757256baaf5f%2C0

****http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/04/conservatives-should-no-longer-be-happy-about-budget-deal

I copied this one from you (Patriot Post)

"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." --James Madison

You are right, a BBA could indeed cause tax increases. Better to rein in spending bigtime WHEN (if?) the Republicans have control of both chambers. And, one hopes, the presidency as well.

It is so sad to watch Washington flush the USA down the toilet.

Congress and the President have an opportunity to listen to the people's voice from last election. It appears that they will not listen. The next option we the people have will be in Nov 2012. Clean house, as it is now obvious the "old guard" of both parties are unwilling or able to change. Jan 2013 should see legislation initiated to pass a term limits bill, BBA bill, repeal Obamacare, and initiate real and meaningful review of all entitlement programs before the end of calendar year 2013.

The budget set by congress should alwayse be based on prior years receipts and every $1 billion in excess of that amount should require a penalty be charged against remuneratuon of all congressmen and senators at a rate to be set by concent of the 50 governors. all bills presented in congress should require a fee of the creator of $1.00 per page must be identified by constitutional cross reference and be evaluated for economic impact.

100% new House of Representatives, 33% new Senate and 100% new House of White House in January 2013!

Based upon the above article, nearly everything our president and congress are doing is unconstitutional. It's time to impeach all of them and start over.

I just don't understand how so many educated people can think they can spend more that they take in and not have to pay the pay the piper at the end on the dance. The only answer is to STOP spending. Yearly payouts to countries that hate us, REALLY, are you kidding. And that is only one example. If these highly educated professionals can not come up with ways to stop spending, ask the people, we use our own money.

All of your words are good but you forgot one thing the Seniors that depend on their Social Security every month because that is all the income they have. When ever there is a problem in Washington the middle class ends up getting screwed. So now I think it is time for the Millionaires to pay their fair share. Quit fighting like children and get the debt cieling raised so the American people will not worry if they eat, have lights, water and a phone.

Neither the Republicans or the Democrats have any spine. Republicans should not be compromising on anything. Vote out all elected officials who can't honestly balance a budget.

Here's a wild idea (or maybe it's been proposed and shot down before): Disband the IRS and place the burden of taxation upon the states. The federal government would then tax the STATES, according to their populations, to provide funds for defense of the country. The states would be responsible for providing all the other services that the feds have been trying to provide, but failing miserably at. Make Social Security, Welfare and the Food Stamp Programs community level programs, funded by the communities that need them. Might make those communities that use those programs most get up off their lazy-boys and work to provide for their families like a lot of us already do.....

When is someone going to remove and charge this whole bunch of Charlatans with TREASON for all the acts against the American people and the US Constitution?

Where is the leadership?

We need another Ronald Reagan!!!

We need to Stop using the term "Raising the Debt Ceiling" and use the term "Create More Money".

Raising the debt ceiling means printing more money. After the debt ceiling is raised the Department of Treasury will print up some new government notes, bonds and bills and sell them to the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve will then create some new money and give to the US Treasury. All this does is dilute the existing currency and weaken the value of the dollar. Businessmen pay close attention to the actions of the government in regard to creating new money. The second the debt ceiling is raised, they raise prices to compensate for the diluted currency. Raising the debt ceiling will accomplish nothing in the long term except put government deeper into a debt they can not pay back.

Read the rest of what I wrote here:

http://libertythinkers.com/education/debt-ceiling-hocus-pocus-illusions/

also read

http://libertythinkers.com/education/gold-standard-myths-and-facts-part-2/

California has a balanced budget amendment, but look at the condition California is in. I don't believe a BBA would solve the fiscal problems of the United States. I think insead forcing the legislature to justify spending bills by citing their authorisation specifically from the Constitution ala John Kyl's suggestion would be a better approach.

A balanced budget ammendment will never be ewquired if our illustrious congressmem have to pay for their excesses from their own pockets in additioin to ours.

We need a Balanced Budget Amendment to the US Constitution... Then we need to eliminate the Dept of Energy created during the Jimmy Carter years which does little or nothing, eliminate Hud, have all non-essential federal workers take a one day a month non-paid day off, senators, reps, judges, included. These would save us hundreds of billions of dollars. Sell some our federal land. Open up the oil reserves for drilling, lower corporate taxes to make our corporations competetive. I would offer to those who qualify a free education (college) for engineers, science because we are woefully behind in those areas. We need to catch up. After graduation these people must dedicate themselves to working in the US. Rebuild the military infrastructure using American workers and American plants. BJ Cassady

What do I think? I think we desperately need another Thomas Jefferson, James Madison,John Adams, ANYONE with a lot of common sense and a very patriot love for this country. If not, I fear we will continue our downward spiral and become another Greece.......in more ways than one. Unfortunately, we have way too many politicians who have made their living off the backs of their constituents. Time for REAL change; time for the "ordinary citizen", the patriot, the working men/women of this country to step up to the plate and head to Capitol Hill; time for more Allen Wests, Herman Cains, Michelle Bachmanns to take their place as senators, presidents, representatives. Time to clean house (and senate and supreme court, and lower courts) and restore the integrity of our country and our Constitution. That's what I think (for what it's worth).

How many times do we need to say it? Does not common sense tell us that we either stop spending or wait for bankruptcy? Even if a "majority" refuse to exercise common sense, can we please quit acting like there is a choice? If I was a congressman, I would not need any phone calls or emails from anybody to tell me what to do...we MUST stop spending and counterfeiting!!!! There is NO justification for any other course of action. Anyone still fooled by all the "talking points" and scare tactics coming out of Washington is just that...a fool. Grow up America. This is why socialism is a bad thing.

There are many pitfalls in consideration on how to return to Liberty. Perhaps the FF's comments are THE most appropriate - that it takes a virtuous people to sustain Liberty. One that does not covet others' belongings. One that is generous. One that can show contentment with its accomplishments without jealousy of others.

There are many things we should do, like return the Senate to State control. Religion needs to be FREE to be expressed, not repressed as it is today (if it's Christianity - no control over aetheism, islaam, etc). But most importantly we need to find our hearts.

Cut, Cap and Balance!

There has been nobody as clear on this in the past few days as Erick Erickson, http://www.redstate.com/erick/2011/07/27/the-great-divide/

"Hold the freakin' line!"

If we don't, then what exactly is the endgame we're seeking??

http://www.redstate.com/dhorowitz3/2011/07/27/what-is-the-end-game-for-big-government/

What a bunch of losers for negotiators! All we're doing is negotiating with ourselves! We put our proposal in writing and the Republicans in both houses liked it. The Dems didn't - so what else is new - fine, give me your proposal, in writing! If its not in writing it doesn't count and right now we're only negotiating with ourselves. This is a crock! Toe the line and stop the spending! We sent you there to do a job and now do it! RINOS can shut up and go home! All you're adding is noise pollution.

It is abundantly clear, to anyone with common sense, that our government is far too large and overbearing, and has trampled the Constitution since the days of Lincoln. It spends too much, gives money away to countries that hate us, and contributes to the entitlement mentality to those who depend on the government to take care of them, thereby being assured of getting those entiltilement votes. The Republicans are gutless because they want to appease the Democrats, and the public, and save their phoney jobs. It seems to me that an armed revolution is way past due. There are too many idiots that vote, which is why we have Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Frank, Rangel, and numerous other Constitution-hating politicians in office. Our schools and universities teach Marxist and socialist philosophy to brainwash young minds, and here we are; socialists running the government and breaking the backs of the working class. The Second Amendment was put in place just for this; to rid ourselves of an oppressive and overbearing government that does not adhere to the rule of law. We are past the point of elections saving this country. If it is to be saved, it will take a revolution.

Dennis, I agree 100%! There should be some 'weight' to bringing up bills and budgets. We have permitted Congress to swim in a playground of money without responsibility for far too long. Any privately-run business would have fired the fraudulent/imbezzlers and/or gone out of business long ago. It is time we had some accountability in DC. Unfortunately, there is not a single honest soul in the House or Senate or we would have seen a real budget bill be put to a vote already. It is just a game up there to see how many ways to keep us 'busy' watching the news while they squander our grandchildren's money on themselves.

Yes, themselves, as they both vote themselves posh retirement benefits and profit under the table on things like stimulus projects. Where did the $ go?! Nobody can trace it all...do you really think they spent it with our interests...or their own profit?

It is past time for a real fight...and not with words! Time to get off our lazy, obese little arses, turn off the da@#$ed television, and lock and load on our way to DC. Think I'm kidding? How many are ready to march?

1. Impeach Obama

2. Cut Congress' pay (being an elected official is not a career, it's a public service to your Country)

3. Cut programs such as Welfare,take it back to the way it was,you have so many weeks on welfare while your looking for a job..that's all you get (people have made being on welfare a career,they're like politicians)

4.No more funding to other Countries

5.No more taking care of illegable aliens

6.I work for the Federal Government and I see alot of Fraud Waste and Abuse, such as too many high paying management jobs that don't earn their pay.

7.Give tax cuts to EVERYBODY that has a job/business.If we are keeping more of our money then we will go out and spend and that will boost the economy, it's common sense.

Thank You

of course the best possible plan would be to just stop increasing the spending ESPECIALLY TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES !!

It's NOT like we have the surplus to be bailing out anyone else when we are in over our heads already you know. Time to cut the umbilical cord and have Ma-Ma America pull her top back up - both within this country and outside of our boarders.

If it was up to me I would have put all the proposals out for the American People to vote on, but I know that is no way possible. After all it is OUR TAX MONEY not the presidents to do with as he pleases.

The Constitution died long ago and the USA's days are numbered. Most of us are as stupid as they think we are.

We are moving to a dictatorship, socialism/communism, and loss of all freedoms. Why is the congress and/or military

--NOT-- charging this illegal potus and administration with treason and high crimes?

The constitution is being openly subverted and we are all just watching as it is being destroyed !!!

Impeachment is no longer satisfactory; we need charges of treason and charges of high crimes, and then jail sentences.

I believe this is now the only action that will get the once great USA back to the God-given Constitutional ways that we were founded-on.

2012 is too late !!!

Mr. Alexander, since I began receiving the Patriot Post a about two years ago, I have fully enjoyed your essays and all the other contributions from others. I teach US and Texas government at a small community college in Texas and have always been a "conservative" even when Texas was a one party state. I have taken the liberty to refer to the Post in my classroom on many occasions and I have found that many of my students to enjoy and accept many of your writings. Thank you

Boehner was, is and will be a greasy RINO dealmaker. The RNC is full of plantation mint julip drinking RINO's who want business as usual. The Senate as a whole could and should be tried for treason and then shot. I want the country to fall off the budget cliff, there are too many stupid people and it's obvious that the herd must be thinned. The stupid won't survive the chaos and the politicians won't fare any better. It's time for that political asteroid strike so the dinosaurs will go away.

1. No new taxes of ANY kind. That means even those "taxes" the left says are "not treated like taxes".

2. Reduce spending by 40% since that is the level of the deficit. The only exception is the military as we cannot afford to disarm our country when so many are determined to destroy us.

3. Charge Obama with his crimes, try him, then if convicted, treat him like any other criminal.

4. Then go after every person who was complicit in his crimes and do the same for them. This includes congress and the SCOTUS.

5. Demand that congress pass a law that obligates them to be liable for every law they pass without exception.

6. Remove ALL perks from congress including retirement, free health care, and all other "benefits" as they are servants, not masters. removal of retirement shall be retroactive.

7. Fine any person or corporation that hires an illegal alien a percentage of their gross annual income before adjustments. That will end illegal immigration and open up 30 million jobs to America citizens. The illegals can go home the way they got here. They can walk.

I could add more but you said to be brief.

The solution is simple: elect (put in office) those people who believe in the Rule of Law and limited government. A simple solution but difficult to achieve. Our problem is not in our ever increasing set of laws but in the byzantine manner in which the contradictory rules are executed, leaving way too much to the 'convenience' of the bureaucrat or judge. It is too easy to twist and distort the 'system' to get the result the judge or bureaucrat want without obeying the letter of the law. So the public is seldom aware the the Law has been bent twisted or broken. There also no follow up on those that do the twisting, we don't put those 'legal perverters' out of office, neither the press or the body politic cares anymore. If they cared we could solve it shortly!

Today government activity at all levels far exceeds what the Constitution authorizes. Therefore the Federal Government of The American Empire is an illegal Government!

I think The Tenth Amendment may be the only way to save our nation short of an insurrection or session. A group of several States must get together... Filing suit against The Federal Government of The American Empire for blatant disregard to and violation of the U S Constitution's Tenth Amendment. Obviously, a suit of this nature would end up in The Supreme Court... something for the mind to ponder.

Those inside the beltway had better get serious or America will soon be like the Roman Empire… HISTORY!

I think the first place to stop payments is the salaries of the House and Senate and all their perks, including their earmarks.

I agree that something has to be done with regard to the liberal-inspired special interest money that is draining our treasury. We need to dump the UN. We need to dump most of our foreign aid. We need to stop finanically supporting illegals and those who refuse to get off of welfare. I am very worried that what little money that I have in retirement investments will be even more adversely affected than it was for the past recession. For the idiot-in-chief to resort to threats like holding off on Social Security payments shows what an empty suit he really is. God save our country!

every incumbent must go, that is the only way they will ever believe we are serious. No pay if over budget. End the Fed, the dept's of education, energy, epa, hud, etc...etc... until we get to a point where we actually bring in more than we spend. no enrichment while in politics. Tese people need to understand it is a duty to serve and not a "CAREER"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mark, the only answer is to admit defeat. Our form of government isn't working. The idea of a "republic" leads to too much corruption and alteration. If we want a true democracy then let's have it. Fire everyone in Washington, and "We the People" will rule - every decision comes to us and we vote. We are weary - weary of taxes, lack of fairness, weary of squabbling like children, weary of political posturing. Thomas Jefferson said there should be a revolution every 20 years. We are long past due.

Just for once, let the Repulican Party stand on conservative principals. We sent the Cut, Cap and Balance amendment to the Sentate and they've stated they won't for the Boehner plan either. Then let them, the Senate and President, be responsible for what happens next. If we don't stop now - it may be too late in 2012!

As has been written about elsewhere on other conservative sites, a balanced budget amendment may well be the DemocRATic Trojan horse, designed to impose DemocRATic dictatorship ina a single party government.

A BBA that left open the means by which a balanced budget would be imposed, under DemocRATic rule, would merely be a way to impose massive tax (and spending) increases tom complete the subjugation of Americans. It would create the ultimate Marxist state wherein the State would gradually control all means of production, driving out capitalist entrepeneurship, replacing the Fortune 100 with Government Motors (oops, I guess that would be GM and Chrysler), Government Airways (after we grope, spindle, staple and mutilate you, you may reach any destination of our choosing), Government Hospital (the renamed Obamacare of the not to distant future), etc.

The only BBA I could support would be one that forbade increased taxes to balance the budget. That way, sensible spending cuts would have to be imposed.

If the Dems defeat the Boener proposal, the Republicans should beat them over the head with Who's the party of "No" now. They are also the party of "no" written ideas.

In addition to all the afore mentioned points as to the Constitutionality ( or lack thereof ), one additional point is this:

As currently constructed, the national debt is Un Constitutional because it has no specified pay-off date. Thus, it is a debt in perpetuity which in construct is a tax debt in perpetuity and a tax debt in perpetuity is taxation without representation.

If you make a debt that you know will be paid for by a future generation, you have laid a tax on a group not of the age of majority, unable to vote for the Congress which has laid the tax.

That is a clear design of taxation without representation.

All revenues pledged need to have a pay off date not to exceed the term of the congress that made the expenditure.

Congress had Obama looking scared last Friday, but thanks to John "Get-your-ass-in-line" Boehner (funny that JB uses a democrat symbol), republicans have squandered whatever advantage they held in these fiscal negotiations. Once you retreat an inch, you might as well give-up (Because they sure won't.)

Vote NO on increasing the debt limit. The deficits must be stopped or America will be pushed over the economic cliff onto the ash heap of history where it will join the Soviet Union. If the deficits are not stopped now, then when? Boehner's proposal cuts spending in 2012 by only a few billion dollars out of an expected deficit of about $1.6 trillion. The more substantial cuts are promised for many years in the future. Those cuts won't happen - they never do.

Moreover, even if the promised cuts did materialize, they still would be utterly inadequate. Although the CBO estimate for the debt increase over the next decade is about $10 trillion, that figure depends on an uninterrupted unprecidented GDP growth rate. When debt reaches about 90% of GDP, GDP growth historically drops by about 1.5%, which will reduce our GDP growth to zero. A more realistic estimate of the debt increase over the next decade is $16 trillion to $20 trillion.

The USA has enough annual revenues (about $2.4 trillion) to send out the checks for interest on Treasuries (about $220 billion), Social inSecurity (about $60 billion a month), Mediscam (about $60 billion per month), military pay and benefits, food stamps, and unemployment - with very little left over for corn ethanol subsidies, high speed rail, EPA, HUD, DOE, etc. Lets use the power of the Social inSecurity/Mediscam political block to kill off the rest of big government. Would retirees prefer their checks to funding high speed rail? Corn ethanol? HUD? DOE? Etc.

Note well that of the above expenditures, only those for the interest on the National Debt and our military are authorized by our Constitution.

How do we free America from the chains of Social inSecurity and Mediscam?

There is an old saying - it's either the ballot box or the cartridge box. This old saying leaves out a third and even more powerful box - the till.

If the Republicans refused to raise the debt ceiling, a huge amount of unconstitutional garbage would be crowded out by politically more powerful unconstitutional garbage - specifically Social Security and Medicare.

So long as essentially unlimited amounts of money can be borrowed, essentially unlimited amounts of unconstitutional usurpations can be imposed upon us. Note that the Fed can not continue to monetize the debt beyond existing debt levels if the debt ceiling is not increased.

We must use the politically most powerful faction of our unconstitutional opponents to crush all of the others. If the electorate is forced to make a choice between high speed trains or getting their Social Security and Medicare checks, we all know what will happen. ( So does BO, hence ObamaCare with it's artfully concealed spending limitations.) When the unthinkable has been accomplished (the practical end of the Depts. of Education, Housing and Urban Welfare, Energy, the EPA, etc.), then Social Security and Medicare can be dealt with as the unconstitutional (hence illegal) Ponzi schemes that they are: auction off the Ponzi scheme's operator's assets to make the victims whole. By the end of this process, the central government will be much smaller, and less powerful and abusive.

Since most of the central government is unconstitutional, most of it must be crushed. There is only one hammer that is powerful enough to do that - Social Security and Medicare. This hammer can be mobilized by a combination of two actions: no increase in the debt ceiling combined with a timely rescue of this political faction's supporters by the year by year grand auction of the Ponzi scheme operator's assets.

Treat the central government exactly like any other criminal Ponzi scheme operator; that is what it is, and that is the treatment that it deserves. Auctioning off a Ponzi scheme operator's assets to make the victims whole is something everyone can understand. No PhD in Austrian school economics or Constitutional law needed.

The first step in forcing the establishment of priorities is turning off the borrowing deluge. This will only be politically viable if the Social Security and Medicare faction see a mechanism by which they will continue to get "theirs". This most powerful faction, leveraged with a shut-off of further borrowing, can destroy unconstitutional government as we have known it - if a Republican presidential candidate has the knowledge, courage, and ruthlessness to use it to crush the other factions.

There is no Constitutional authority for Social Security or Medicare - but they exist and have an exceedingly powerful political constituency - so what is to be done about them?

The answer is simple; they are illegal rapidly failing Ponzi schemes - deal with them as with any other Ponzi scheme: Seize the assets of the Ponzi scheme operator, put those assets into receivership, and auction them off to pay off the victims. The US central government (the Ponzi scheme operator) owns 30% of the onshore US and essentially all of the gas and oil rich continental shelf off of America's shores. Sell just enough of these properties each year to pay off the Ponzi scheme victims. If more were sold than this minimum, Congress would immediately spend it, just as they have spent the Social Security "surplus" tax increases created by the 1982 Greenspan Commission.

Ending FICA taxes now would give every worker a non-inflationary 15.3% wage increase (non-inflationary since no money supply increase is involved).

In addition to paying off the Ponzi victims, this would put scores of trillions of dollars of currently sterile Federalie resources in private hands. The Social Security / Medicare generation is probably the only group that is politically powerful enough to privitize these lands.

To eliminate Federalie interference in the development of the continental shelf lands, allow the purchaser the option of that land being regulated by the nearest State rather than the central government.

This neatly cuts two Gordian knots with one blow - the Social Security / Medicare entitlement problem and the central government owning so much of America problem. This solution would create a huge economic boom (not a bubble because there would be no money supply increase).

Let the auction begin!

Durk Pearson, MIT '65

When I was a child, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the United States decomposing into a gray, Marxist "utopia", yet today, it is becoming just that. As I matured, I realized that human nature is a constant throughout history. Never has a government, empire, dynasty, or other system of human government endured beyond a few hundred years. Eventually, they toppled - every one of them. There is no empirical evidence to demonstrate that human nature has changed or evolved in any positive (or negative, for that matter) way. That the U.S. is crumbling is no surprise.

I am not a fatalistic doom-sayer, and I don't take such thoughts lightly, however, I simply wish to put the issue of our nation's future into perspective. Our government (as well as our culture) has undergone terrific changes during the past hundred years, the most significant of which is the decay of our Christian moral and family values. At one time, the majority of people in this country held some form of Christian belief and were directed in their behaviour by an internal "guidance system" (i.e. God) which required little external enforcement. Today, however, we have largely abandoned God, Christianity (though, interestingly, the majority of people still call themselves "Christian") and any pretense of internal spiritual morality in favour of an external, legislated, humanistic morality. Since no law is truly adequate to manage human behaviour (remember the Israelites and their track-record with the Mosaic Law), the state must continually create more and more laws to catch the "wrong-doers" who fall through the cracks. The end result is that the state must tighten its grip ever more until eventually, no freedom, no behaviour, no thought is left unmonitored or unregulated.

The United States is in the midst of this process. We have over a hundred years of "progress" in state-sponsored, politically-correct moral evolution under our belts now, and any attempt to unravel this network of progressive tendrils from our souls will be met with harsh resistance. In the end, this distills down to a numbers game: are there more fiscally/morally/spiritually conservative people than progressive/humanist people? If so, will those conservatives rise to action and dismantle this tower of Babel, or will progressivism strangle the life out of us? Stay tuned...

Our fore fathers are much smarter, then any congress that has bee elected and includibg any president! What saved FDR was that Japan attacked us! If it had not been for www11 we would have still been in deep doo-doo Love DG

The debt ceiling should not be raised. The GOP should "dig in" on the "cut, cap and balance" bill and let the Democrats take the hits for not passing it or offering an alternative. Then the Congress should pass the Fair Tax, taking taxes off the productivity of the United States and taking the social engineering and redistribution of wealth mechanism from the power hungary White House and Senate. It won't be easy, but it will be a start.

Why do we worry about formation of a "third party"? It looks more and more as if we only really have one party rule in this country anyway.

I support whatever Congressman Allen West (22 CD, FL)votes for.

What about a referendum petition? They had that in Wisconsin. Can it be used on the president?

I'm ready to have the election now!

I don't get it and I'm a 60 year Republican - likely Independent soon now. The Republicans are gona be savaged NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS. We've been kicking the can down the road for 60 years. Again Boehner insists on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Rand Paul, like any good Centurion, should be insuring his rear guard is on guard.The only thing you can know for sure about RINO Republicans is "they eat their young".

Several years ago I read "Uncommon Sense - the Real American Manifesto," written by the late Wm James Murray (1942-1992). He described the differences between the Real Americans and the Socialistic Americans (loyalists) who lived during the time when Thomas Paine wrote "Common Sense," and described the negative effects of socialism in the early settlements of Jamestown (1607) and in Plymouth (1620). According to the information in Pages 200-210, Government was the boss and socialistic people allowed Government to control them [supposedly] for everyone's benefit.

One negative aspect of human nature tends towards socialism: no private property, no rights, no ambition. But there is a more positive aspect of human nature. According to a Wm Bradford quote: "When the system of private ownership was established and self-reliance became the rule. The housewife came out of her kitchen and the children gave up some of their play time to help [their dads work] in the fields so the family could produce more, and have more food and live better."

I believe small Government, mature citizens, private property and free capitalism is the best "Economic Stimulus Package” for America.

P200¶1: We are free to buy or sell our produce, or keep it. High standard of living is the result of freedom to produce more basic material.

P201¶1: Government is good [only] for protection from criminals and enemies, and for establishing standards [for regulating society].

P201 bottom: Freedom from interference - motive to produce our high standard of living - these standards came from free people.

P202-203: Jamestown 1607 (Capt John Smith, Council Compact) and Plymouth 1620 (Wm Bradford, Mayflower Compact) Socialistic Government was the boss, people allowed Government to control them (supposedly) for everyone’s benefit. All food and goods put into common storehouse. All was dispensed on equal basis (regardless of how much they worked). All began starving because lazy people realized no matter how little they did, they would still get equal share. Then [because of the added burden of providing for all] ambitious people slowed down. Diseases began spreading and people began dying from starvation.

P206 ¶: Free economic system began in Jamestown then in Plymouth. Free use of [private] land, more productive, more food, more health. Became forerunner of our Republic. Greatest incentive = Private property and self-reliance [only works for mature people]. Opposite of socialism [which works best for lazy immature people].

P208 ¶3: Bradford quote: “When the system of private ownership was established, and self-reliance became the rule, the housewife came out of her kitchen and the children gave up some of their play time to work in the fields so the family could produce more, and have more and live better.”

P209 ¶3: Four steps to higher standards: Incentive, labor, production, abundance.

P211 ¶2: All other nations of the world have socialism and lower standards of living.

Have a wonderful, free American day. Be militant in a good-natured way.

Charles Sproull, Springville IN

"The power to tax, is the power to destroy" Ayn Rand

Unconstitutional bills are treason.

How about hanging for sponsors ?

Stop ALL $$$ going to illegals and aid to our enemies.

Close all but the most strategic military bases around the world

(we support 90 of them) bring the boys home and put them on our boarders. Close all immigration and deport all aliens.

Teach American kids our history and our fore fathers' value system.

Shut down the welfare programs. Bring back individual responsibility.

I think Obama anf George Soros is purposely trying to bankrupt America. With the liberals entrenched in Washington it will be like removing a dog tick embedded in Dirty Harry's crouch. We have sit on the sidelines for so long allowing business as usual it will take a full generation, if we started today just to get back to zero. And that's probably not going to happen as long as Harry and Nancy and their crew is in congress. I can only hope and pray and vote. Please God, help us.

The REAL problem is the way DC works. "BASELINE BUDGET" Automatic increase in budget by law. A ponzi scheme. Both parties know this. Enough dog & pony show already.

The law needs to be repealed and the government needs to budget like the rest of us. NO MORE ACCOUNTING TRICKS. A pox on both houses.

We will in all likelihood never be able to get the "Genie back in the bottle" with the federal government. I believe our last best hope is to join together with at least several of the 50 (or 57 for BHO) states and institute nullification of unconstitutional laws and interposition of the individual states between federal enforcement efforts and individuals in the states. If this is practiced effectively and consistently, I think we can get our freedoms back.

Great article. We must reverse the spending pattern; freezing it will not be enough. The dems/socialists are determined to keep expanding government and spend us into oblivion, and the sooner we admit this, the better. What in the world do people think Obama meant when he said he was going to fundamentally transform our country!!!

Every time Patriot post or anyone takls about tax increases cripling the economy it should include a sentence to the effect that the net income to the treasury will not increase above the current level of about 20% of GDP no matter what the rate is set at.

If the Democrats get thier way it won't be long before we are in the same boat as Greece.

This is a letter I sent to my Representative this morning.

I understand that it is necessary to raise the debt ceiling so the government can maintain liquidity and fund the current budget. This is necessary simply because our elected representatives have allocated and obligated so much money. Simply stated our elected representatives have dug us into huge deep hole and we are stuck in the bottom of it.

As the old saying goes, when you find yourself in a hole, first quit digging. It is time for the digging to stop. All the legislation proposed to end this current debt ceiling debate refers to reducing borrowing in the future. Even the House bill you supported (Cut, Cap, and Balance Act) only talks about reductions in the annual deficit and not the elimination of the deficit. I haven’t heard a reasonable plan to eliminate the deficit and to pay off the debt.

We have a national debt of Fourteen Trillion, Two Hundred Ninety Three Billion, Forty Seven Million, Two Hundred Fifty Thousand, Eight Hundred and Sixty Three Dollars, and 00/100 well actually it has gone up over $6,000,000 since I started typing. According to the US Debt Clock I currently owe $130,061 to the National Debt and another $7,600 for my portion of the VA debt.

We must eliminate the deficit and pay off the debt. It is the only correct answer. No individual can live on borrowed money. Our government cannot do it either. To continue to attempt to finance our governments business on credit can end only with the failure of the great experiment.

I believe that the following things must be done immediately.

1. Debt ceiling must be extended to allow the business of our government to continue.

2. The plan to raise the ceiling should include the elimination of deficits within 5 years.

3. Almost 50% of our fellow citizens do not pay income tax. At the end of the year 50% of the population either owe nothing or get money back. The plan must include an increase in taxes for the 50% that do not pay taxes today. A complete revision of the current tax system is necessary and essential to our future.

4. Since we cannot trust our elected representatives to “Protect and Defend” we must have a balanced budget amendment.

5. The federal budget should be tied to the GDP.

6. Our military is currently involved in several armed conflicts. These conflicts have been going on for many years and the military’s equipment is worn out. All the budgeting efforts, cost cutting, program reductions, etc. must be planned around substantial funding for our military to reset their personnel and equipment.

7. Reduce the size and scope of the federal government. The federal government has spent the last 80 years reaching and grasping for more power and usurping the authority of the Sovereign States and The People. Close all the federal agencies whose activities exceed the federal authority granted by The Constitution. Return the federal government to what it was intended.

8. Close our borders and round up all the criminal invaders in this country and send them home.

9. Repeal the 17th Amendment.

10. Pay off the National Debt within 20 years of eliminating the deficit.

Repeal the 16th Amendment!

That ill-conceived, open wallet, illegitimate money grab amendment is why we are in this predicament today.

..."lay and collect taxes on incomes, [from whatever source] derived, without apportionment among the several states, and [without regard to any consensus] or enumeration," was drawn up by a desperate, fearful and draconian congress during its time.

Repeal or amend the 16th amendment to strip their federal powers indefinitely.

Passing the FairTax act would start the correctional process by stimulating the economy in a real and practical manner. Businesses would be less motivated to outsource. A for-real balanced budget should be enacted ASAP. A TRULY independent audit of ALL governmental programs would reveal a lot of overlapping programs which could be cut. I don't think many people are aware of how much redundancy there is in the governmental bureaucracy. Instead of cutting Social Security, which is a truly evil scare tactic by power-hungry congresscritters, we would save untold amounts of money by cutting the duplicates. Flailing rhetoric will not solve anything. We need statesmen, not politicians. Throw the Bums Out!

The person detailing the best program to trim government FAT this week is John Stossel, who said to END the Department of "Education" and the EPA among other cost reductions.

IF the Post Office would deliver three days a week and close most of the small offices across the nation, imagine the savings in that vast land of WASTE.

There is so much bloated bureaucracy to cut it would be a simple matter to find a trillion dollars here and there-- if only the "Leaders" had the guts to do it.

I can think of a couple of solutions to our problems here, neither of which will come to fruition because of the crass stupidity of the parties involved: #1 - Do what the State of New Hampshire does with its legislature. Pay them a pittance for serving. In other words chop the huge salaries these birds are drawing, from the President down with no provision for improvement until the country is out of the woods; #2 - Put the President and the negotiators in a room together and lock the doors. No food, no water, and no bathroom breaks, or use of a phone until they get something constructive accomplished. If they have to sleep on the floor, so be it. You can't posture your way to a "Happy Meal." When and if they come to an aggreement, that's time enough to feed the animals and allow them to relieve themselves. If they protest by saying, "We are adults and shouldn't be treated like children," respond with "When you begin acting like adults we will treat you that way."

I'm still amazed at just how brilliant and pragmatic our founding fathers were. They anticipated everything that would be attempted to usurp the constitution and covered it in written word. Unfortunately, under the guise of catastrophes, the socialists have done exactly what the founding fathers warned us about. They have, through judicial diktat and other nefarious means, undermined our constitution to the point that we are on the brink of a real castatrophe. Through the gradual redistributive policies of liberals that gained momentum through FDR's "New Deal", more and more people have allowed themselves to become dependent on the government. We are now at a point when we have roughly half the nation not paying any taxes at all. Once the majority of citizens become dependent on the labor of the remainder of the citizens, our Republic is dead. It is only a matter of time until the country implodes due to the negligence and evil deeds that got us there.

Question: If House Republicans believe larger majorities will be theirs after by caving to democrats demands now, why would voters elect R candidates? Why not just vote democratic? You get the same result anyway.

Our elected officers do not stand up for us. They stand for themselves. I fear 2010 was the last year where an election had any meaning.

Excellent essay as usual from Mr. Alexander on the Constitutional bounds of spending that the founders envisioned. However, I found it peculiar that Madison vetoed a highway bill. Article I clearly confers authority for the creation of post offices and post roads. I am assuming the highway bill in question would have been for the creation of roads. More broadly, I do think the Interstate Highway system built under Eisenhower was an appropriate federal action, as a national network of highways is not something the 50 states could have produced nearly as effectively.

Mark:

You asked me what I thought. Here it is.

First, most in Washington talk about "deficits". That is the wrong issue! The issue is debt! We can bring the deficits down, even substantially, ad infinitum, all the while allowing the debt to grow. This year's deficit is ca. $1.3 trillion. That number could be cut by $100 billion per year over the next decade and, all else equal, the debt would grow by $7.5 trillon, allowing the total debt to escalate to around $22 trillion! The deficits, per se, are NOT the issue. Debt is the issue!

Michael W. Reece

Simpsonville, South Carolina

mwreece@charter.net

You are right on the mark in describing our state of duress. The contemporary democrat party has been taken over by hippies in business suits.

They represent the greatest threat to this Republic.

I am reminded of the phrase "...all enemies foreign and domestic."

Thanks to your continuing efforts to spread the work and call them on their criminal deeds we are better prepared to prevent them from completely subverting our country.

Keep the Faith & God Speed

Chris Wilkinson

First we need to send The United Nations to a country that deserves them, ie; France, and collect all monies due us from their Diplomatic Immunity schemes. Then stop all monies to foreign countries that we get nothing from, recall our troops to defend our boarders and ship all illegals back where they came from with the knowledge that the next time they get caught they won't be able to come back. We need to stop NAFDA and start supporting our own citizens in this country.

The current crisis has been thrust upon us by our apathy, as citizens wse allowed the Central Government to get away with far too much, and since the Roosevelt days it has been buisnes as usual.

If we are ever going to save this Country and our Constitution "We the People" are going to have to hold all three Branches of Government to the Letter of the U.S. Constitution else we go down in ruin, and disgrace.

Is anyone asking the question "Why is there a debt ceiling?" In other words, if every time the president or congress wants to borrow more money, they vote to raise the debt ceiling, there is in fact no ceiling at all. I get the feeling that even if we passed a balanced budget amendment the entrenched interests in Washington (ie.both political parties) would still find a way to screw us, the tax payers, over.

I think we need to do away with various cabinet posts and their corresponding departments such as education and commerce as well as the so called czars. Congress needs to set budget limits for itself and the executive branch. I could go on and on but you get the point.

A balanced budget amendmenet is not enough and could cause issues when financing is necessary. States may "balance" their budgets but find ways to make up the deficits by issueing various sorts of bonds.

What is also needed is a flat tax so that the majority of Americans are tax payers. When the majority of Americans don't pay federal income tax, a balanced budget amendment just results in higher taxes.

The Federal Government has been for far too long appropriating money to do far too many things that are not within their purview. Should the Congress wake up and remove all those expenditures for which they have no constitutional authority, and concentrate on those expenditures for which there is direct constitutional mandate, we could significantly lower any debt ceiling. Many of the expenditures would necessarily be pushed to the individual states where they are more tuned to needs of their citizens. And, since the Federal Government would not require such a heavy tax burden of the citizenry, the states would be free to raise taxes specifically to take care of their own.

The debt that our politicians have put us in is beyond reasoning. This isn't a partisan problem this is the Washington stupidity problem. Is the citizenry of this country ever going to realize that you cannot create prosperity by incurring more debt? You can't do this with your family budget, can't be done as a business and nor can it be done in government. Is this reality some complex?

God save America before the politicians give it away.

Gerry

Ash Fork, Az.

Our nation has been deficit spending for almost as long as every American living today can remember. If we go back a half century, from Bush43 all the way back to John F. Kennedy in 1961, we find that our administrations have over spent their annual revenues by an average of 11.7% The following lists the average annual deficit for each president during their term in office (all numbers are negative, including Clinton’s):

Kennedy – 5.4%

Johnson – 6.3%

Nixon – 5.8%

Ford – 15.3%

Carter – 13.2%

Reagan – 23.3%

Bush41 – 22.2%

Clinton – 3.2%

Bush43 – 11.5%

Unfortunately, President Obama has taken this nasty habit of overspending and expanded on it 5-6 fold. In his first three years in office, Obama is running deficits that range from 60-75% of revenues EVERY YEAR!

Bush43 and all his predecessors were all “bad little boys” for overspending as much as they did, but Obama’s spending habits are nothing short of criminal. In real dollars, he has racked up as much debt in the past 3 years as al the presidents had done in the preceding 26 years. That number only drops to the preceding 20 years after adjusting for inflation. I hope you caught that. Obama in three years has run up the same amount of debt as Bush41, Clinton, and Bush43…combined.

The progressive left loves to blame the current debt and deficits on Bush43 (then again, they blame everything on Bush43). What’s ironic is that his average deficit spending was 0.2% better than the 5-decade average, and almost half that of his father’s. Bush43’s worst year of deficit spending (22% in FY2004) is almost one third that of Obama’s best year.

If we wanted to lambast past presidents for deficit spending, we should be pointing a finger at Reagan who, in 1983 spent 34.6% more than he took in. But Obama makes Reagan look like a piker and a spend-thrift in comparison. I’d even be happy to replace Obama with LBJ, the father of the “Great Society”. He deficit spent at one tenth the rate Obama is spending.

It is my honest opinion that we must repeal every law passed the is not authorized by our Constitution. For far to long the Congress and the Court has been undermining the Consttution by the So Called Living Constitution, which it is not.

If Changes are to be made to the Constitution our Foundes made it possible but it isn't an instant fix it takes time and the People must agree to it, which is as it should be.

In the past out Presidents and their Congres have seen fit to ignore the Constitution to fix that which was not broken but did improve their ability to fulfill their agenda.

Time to apply the brakes!

Obama and the democratic party's usurption of power is bringing bout the downfall of the USA faster and more assuredly than any foreign power could ever hope to do. Obama has already crippled this nation and is now going for the coup-de-gras with his massive spending and give-away fiscal ideology.

The Constitution is very direct and clear on how the US government is to be allowed to tax and spend. The democrates and unfortunately, most of the so-called republicans are too engrossed in their own illegal taxations and pork-barrel finances to stop this insanity. It has become the Tea Party members responsibility to put a stop to this madness. If that means shutting the federal government down financially to bring these ignorant politicians to their senses and return this nation to the Rule of the Constitution, then so be it !!!

Mr. Alexander,

What I think is this: we have not the poltical will among our 'leadership' to resolve this spending/debt issue, that we will default, interest rates will skyrocket, and financial collapse will ensue in 2-3 stages over a few months.

The current proposal to create a 'Super Committe' consisting of member of both the House and the Senate to prevent collapse is even more troubling. While I do not believe the formation of such a committee will truly resolve the Debt Crisis, it may stave it off for a few years.

The problem with getting such a breathing space with the 'Super Committee' is that such a committee, in effect, becomes one governing body. It removes the guards against the paroxysms of pure democracy which our Republican system was specifically designed to contain; realisitically, how long until our Super Committee grows, becomes empowered to solve other 'problems,' how long until we have more than one such committee? The avalanche of power grabbing is not likely to stop until both House and Senate are effectively merged, and then we have nothing left of the Republican Constitutional government we cherish. At that point, we have a pure Mob-ocracy.

Mob rule is, to my mind, more dangerous and insidious than civil war.

We are indeed on the brink, and the survival of our nation and our way of life is now nearly overcome by the Rule of Men.

In such times, we must rely on our evolutionarily engineered programming: fight or flight. Given how problematic revolt and civl war are, and how combatting popular mob rule will be, I fear my family and I must flee this country.

Donde esta Argentina, Senior?

Sean Valdrow

Angry Peasant

It is my thoughtful opinion that we the people are not being represented by Congress in the Debt reduction mess. Just say NO to the spendthrifts in DC and let the Debt Limit stay as it is now. We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Let each branch of goverment justify each line item of their spending, or it shal be cut.

With all the talk about not sending SS checks out or cutting Medicare, why don't we stop aid the the countries that are against the U.S. Help Americans before we help those countries.

The "Balanced Budget Amendment" had better be perfectly written or judges will be determining our budgets for us. As well-intentioned as the idea is, it may tend to remove the responsibility from Congress where, somewhat unfortunately, it must stay according to our Constitution.

Greetings, love the Post. Love your essays. God Bless.

A BBA will quite frankly do nothing if the decision making of elected officials lacks integrity and/or if they continue to ignore their oaths. But a BBA, with criminal penalties, defining Economic Treason, may work. At this point, unless elected officials have skin in the game, unless their blood is at risk, they will not respect the rule of law.

Of course, such a BBA shall never be allowed by either party. Truly, our only course of action must be, as crazy as this sounds, to fertilize the tree of liberty.

Just my opinion.

Stay Well,

Donovan

When Obama took office and spent $800 billion on the "one-time stimulus", I figured it was a waste of money, but at least spending in the next year would come back down. But spending in Obama's second year was even higher, and the high rate of spending has continued. The first thing we need to do is cut spending to 2008 levels or less. That means at least $800 billion in cuts for the next year, and a raise in the debt ceiling of about $500 billion to get us through the year. Then cut enough in year 2 to get the budget balanced. Don't even bother talking about how much will be cut over 10 years, unless the number is about $15 trillion. In conjunction with the spending cuts, lower the minimum wage to $5 per hour so that the government workers who will be laid off will be able to find jobs for which they're qualified. Suggestions on where to save money: eliminate all spending that has been added since Obama took office, and eliminate the Depts of Education, Energy, and HUD.

I agree that government spending needs to be brought under control. I have a family member that works for a title company. Since the housing market slump they have taken 2 seperate 10% pay cuts plus other benefit cuts.

My undestanding is that the average government worker makes considerably more than in the private sector yet I have not heard anyone saying "why not cut non-military government wages across the board to the same level as the private sector?".

Now THAT would be shared sacrifice.

Mr. Alexander,

What does it take for "We the People", the authority on which our government was founded and to whom the federal government should be beholden, to require the presentation of a balanced budget amendment on the general election ballot?

i would support the bba if i thought that congress would honor the intent and the wording of it.

however, history documents instead their expanded use of more of their many, many gambits around including in the budget all the revenues/in-bound payments/receipts and all the expenditures/investments/set-asides or any other form of funding.

congress has a proven history of redefining actions to keep their financial impacts outside the budget.

as long as this continues, a bba would be yet another empty political sham.

congress should first pass budgets with real and thoroughly honest surpluses for several years.

after a true, documented, and pattern of under-spending (lowering the national debt), i would be inclined to consider and maybe believe in a bba. not before. a waste of time otherwise.

Sharon,

it isn't our form of government - a REPUBLIC - that doesn't work. What does not work is the fact that the traitorous, treasonous government officials in all 3 branches have repeatedly and unaccountably betrayed it, the Constitution, and their oaths of office.

America was never meant to be a democracy.

Democracy is a tyranny - where the 51% decide and impose their will on the 49%. The founding fathers understood that. Do you? You will soon enough.

The longer a problem exists, the more difficult the solution. This is the first lesson parents of small children learn! From that we learn not do battle until we are willing to lay all on the line and address the problem with all we have and it is often painful for both sides. What is happening today is we are compromising all our standards to make ourselves "acceptable" and electable. Does no one notice that it is our country's future that is at stake? Our country will not long exist if we do not solve this debt crisis this round.

Some facts to consider - or, how the federal government intends to continue their merry-go-round bankrupting of the American public for their re-election:

- We must borrow a LOT more money now to pay the CURRENT obligations of the federal government while FUTURE obligations remain UNFUNDED

- The interest on the debt currently exceeds the Department of Defense budget and which fact Adm Mullens said represents the gravest threat to our national security

- The path that led to our current situation was borrowing more than we could afford

- Borrowing even more NOW according to everyone (President, democrats, press, speculators and investors, etc.) is the only viable path forward

- No one knows - or has the courage to plan - what a "default" would actually involve

- Obama has threatened military veterans, and active duty personnel, as well as seniors on social security with loss of benefits UNLESS his debt authorization is increased

- Obama has refused to consider reducing his medicare and medicaid entitlements and entitlement programs that fund the life-style of some projected 20 million illegal aliens to reduce spending

- Obama has sought to raise taxes on Americans by an additional $2,000 Billion dollars

- Running out of money NOW will FORCE the US Government to actually MAKE BUDGET DECISIONS

- Extending the debt ceiling will not only postpone MAKING BUDGET DECISIONS yet once more but will likely do so until AFTER THE NEXT ELECTION when the ultimate consequences COME HOME TO ROOST

- A downgrade of US credit rating, which can be expected to occur regardless of whether the debt ceiling is raised, can only INCREASE INTEREST PAYMENTS DUE on US debt

- A further INCREASE in interest payments on US debt will REQUIRE BORROWING MORE MONEY!

I have dreams of each department of the federal goverenment having to justify its existence yearly and having its budget depend on this justification. There are so many things that the federal government spends money on that is a total waste of our money; starting with the energy department, then going on to HUD, dept of education, and so on down the line. The government is so bloated beyond what the constitution allows that until something like this is done, we won't even get close to a balanced budget. I fear for my son and his future children.

THE PROBLEM IS SERIOUS, BUT WILL NEVER BE SOLVED WITH THE DEMOCRATS CONTROLLING THE SENATE AND THE WHITE HOUSE.WE SHOULD TAKE A PLAN WHICH PARTIALLY ADDRESSES THE DEBT WITH NO TAX INCREASE AND THEN SOLVE THE PROBLEM IN THE ELECTIONS OF 2012 BY GIVING CONSERVATIVES WHO VOW SOLUTIONS OUR VOTE TO CONTROL THE CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE.

Failure to increase the debt ceiling is a de facto balanced budget requirement. Current federal tax revenue is $200B per month; the feds can spend that much without an increase in the debt ceiling. That is not even close to a government shut down, just a real slow down. It is clearly enough to pay the interest on the debt and Social Security and military pay. Anything above $200B/month we simply can't afford.

We don't need a deal, just a reduction in government spending. Refusal to pass in increase in the debt ceiling requires exactly that.

When Obama took office and spent $800 billion on the "one-time stimulus", I figured it was a waste of money, but at least spending in the next year would come back down. But spending in Obama's second year was even higher, and the high rate of spending has continued. The first thing we need to do is cut spending to 2008 levels or less. That means at least $800 billion in cuts for the next year, and a raise in the debt ceiling of about $500 billion to get us through the year. Then cut enough in year 2 to get the budget balanced. Don't even bother talking about how much will be cut over 10 years, unless the number is about $15 trillion. In conjunction with the spending cuts, lower the minimum wage to $5 per hour so that the government workers who will be laid off will be able to find jobs for which they're qualified. Suggestions on where to save money: eliminate all spending that has been added since Obama took office, and eliminate the Depts of Education, Energy, and HUD.

Raising the debt limit by a trillion dollars will allow the government about another 6-8 months of business-as-usual spending while the trillion dollars in "spending cuts" are spread over 10 years. That is like asking your credit card company to raise your credit card limit while promising to continue to pay the minimum monthly payment.

Why is no one talking about the entire "base-line" budgeting process? Baseline budgeting means that every government department will get an increase in their budget (anywhere from 3-25%) automatically, every year. So when budget negotiations begin, the starting point is last years budget, plus the automatic increase. So, when politicians say "cuts" they really mean "not-such-a-big-increase" in spending. In reality, all government spending increases every year.

The entire process is, at best a farce, at worst the largest fraud in the history of the world. And yet, those of us out here in fly-over country watch this circus every year (well, when Republicans are in control, as Democrats forfeited their responsibility to even create a budget) and we wonder to ourselves, "How do these people even dress themselves in the morning?"

I say, accept for a handful (Ryan, Bachmann, Paul (Rand), Cantor, Rubio, et. al.) they should all be replaced.

I fear that Obama is going to win regardless of what Congress does. If Congress fails to increase the Debt limit, Obama may very well declare martial law and attempt to dismiss Congress. Then, acting as Hitler did, institute his own edicts. If Congress does increase the debt limit to Obama's satisfaction, then the spending will go on as before and the economy will collapse anyway. He wins either way. Remember, in spite of the rhetoric, Obama's goal is to destroy capitalism as we know it in this country.

We need to follow the rules listed in the Costitution. Obama and his Socialist/Marxist associates must be throttled down and deposed in the next election.Agreeing to exceed the Budget just provides them with more power, and the demise of the long honorwed Constitution on which our Country was conceived and built.

If only we could return to a constitutional government! Unfortunately, after generations of those living off the governement's gift of our money in the form of taxes transformed into entitlements, I fear the American public just won't have the heart for the fight. I, therefore, must resign myself to eternal discord with the sentiment of this society and fight on with those few who will pick up the banner and charge...

Every single problem now faced by the American public can be traced directly back to our government officials ignoring, subverting or violating the Constitution and betraying their oath of office. The result is an endless war waged against the American tax-paying citizens and the continual aiding and abetting of our enemies. THE CONSTITUTION NAMES THAT ACT TREASON. How much more the calls for giving POTUS total power and authority, for elevating him as an imperial ruler and king, and making him a total despot to fulfill all his intended tyrannies.

Looking at all the comments today, I believe WE THE PEOPLE are no longer talking, but are screaming for our government to stop the spending.

I firmly believe the 2012 elections will be for the survival of the Constitution and this once-great country. It's time to network and prepare for Nov '12.

If you are not a member of a TEA party, find one near you and join up. If there is not one, talk to some like-minded friends and start one up. There is plenty of information on the net to help you get started.

"It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."

— Samuel Adams

If we eliminate entire departments of the federal government, starting with education, energy, homeland security, EPA, BATFE, FHA, EEOC, the entire Federal Ninth Circuit, and every czar outside of the Russian lineage; we would simultaneously restore essential liberty, and begin to pay off the debt.

I made it through the late 60's and early 70's thinking we were on the brink of a major revolution in this country. Although some saw that time of "unrest" as political I believed it to be more of a "social" issue. Now I am entering my 6th decade and fear even more the possibility of a major revolution in the United States. I am not sure that our beloved Country can continue to withstand the constant attacks upon it. I am also not sure whether the regular everyday citizen of this Greatest Nation will continue to tolerate those attacks.

Tell me its not true but I see the wood piled high and the tinder dry just waiting for a spark that will set us on a course no one would welcome.

What is so difficult in seeing the misguided and wrong courses of action being handed to us by our "ruling elite"? Hopefully they will never have to pay a price for the wrongs this "elite" are forcing on the American people.

Tim Carey

Mr. Alexander, as you asked I will respond with "what I think".

I think that while we all look at and chirp over the staged drama of a BBA, national default, and politics as usual, we the people are quietly being moved into a condition of serfdom. A nation ruled by a relatively small group of 'special people' who will require, for the good of all, that the masses serve the state and by extension them.

John Bhaner always new he would cave in. That was, and is,the plan. The Tea Party group always thought they would stand firm and hold the Constitutional line, and then they were immersed in the "system" and all of it's wretched perverting influences. They to will compromise for the sake of doing better next time. A common Republican activity that has yet to be successful and no doubt will never be.

You quoted Jefferson, "To preserve independence ... we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and Liberty, or profusion and servitude. ... The fore horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its turn wretchedness and oppression."

I wish you would have also quoted Lenin, "The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation."

Our nation is basically lost and those who consistently traffic in keeping the the drama always as the primary focus will, I hope, suffer at least the same enslavement as those they helped to deceive.

Yes Mr. Alexander I am talking to you.

I do not believe the vast majority of those in congress at this time have any interest in the walfare of this country and us as individuals. The handling of the budget is but the last straw as far as I am concerned. I would be infavor of disbanding congress and taking a year off. Let the American people really take time to think through what this country was intended to be. Hold new elections with an all new body. None of the current establishment on either side can run again. I don't believe anything coming from any of them right now. I believe they are self serving, self centered individuals who care only about themselves. I have no faith in governent as it stands today.

Repeal the 17th Amendment. Senators should represent their states, not be "Super-Representatives" more accountable to the DC culture of big government.

The "Balanced Budget Amendment" had better be perfectly written or judges will be determining our budgets for us. As well-intentioned as the idea is, it may tend to remove the responsibility from Congress where, somewhat unfortunately, it must stay according to our Constitution.

I've stated this before, we had a chance to fix it under Bush, under Oboma but it was business as usual.

Now it's time to pay and we all shall pay.

The stimulus under eitherpresident is a bad idea. Under other presidents, it was called the New Deal. It did nothing to get us out of the depression. I believe we are in one one.

We can quote Reagan, whoever, but credit rating aside, we will have to take a major hit.

I've read,retake the White House, more Tea Party in both houses then things will be better. the Tea Party has been maneuvered into taking the heat. the GOP won't back them, they will within the next few months drop on them, the public sentiment is against them. They need better messaging and drop Joe Walsh as the messenger for he is poison from a PR stance.

To say more boots on the ground will fix the problem or to repeal parts of the constitution isn't the answer. The answer is, is take the hit and shared sacrifices, even if it would pass is to little to late.

I am the prophet of the gloom and doom. We ran out the clock years ago and pointing fingers doesn't fix the problem.

I understand the frustration you feel. I've said some of you do need to run for your ideas are more intelligent an concise than anyone in either house.

I've always advocated on a strategic withdrawal, win the fights you can and position yourself for 2012. The 'line is the sand,' might be a great line for a Marty Robbins song but not now. Compromise, retake both houses then deal with it providing the Good ol boys don't take you out first.

I'm sorry to see the Patriot pushing a BBA. There is no way anything currently being considered would impede the GOP and Dems from spending all they want, under the guise of emergencies or just ignoring it as they do most of the Constitution. What is needed is an amendment to require a 75% majority to borrow money (i.e., increase the debt ceiling) and a supermajority of 60% to raise taxes.

There are only three ways I see this ending. 1) The socialists get what they want and we become citizens of the USSA. 2) Revolution destroys the currents political ogliarchy and then either Rule of Law is restored or tyranny reigns. (Honestly, I don't think enough Americans are left with the will to fight that war.) 3) The federal government collapses and chaos ensues from see to shinning sea. That doesn't include the effects of foreign influence or possible invasion, i.e. China. I have failed in my oath to the Constitution, as have millions of others. FDR's reign should have started the second Civil War. There have been numerous points in my life when revolution was called for as well, but no one answered. It was nice growing up with at least the ghost of freedom upon the land. I'm just sad the next generation of my tribe probably won't know freedom without incredible sacrifice. Sacrifice my generation and the one before should have born. We have become a land of the wicked, home of the weak. God's punishment is upon us all!

The LIAR is on a rampage, and I am not talking about his puppet in the Whitehouse. We must pray for revival and a return to civil morality and upright leaders. Aside.... Stockpile arms.

Having read/digested the most succinct comments of Mr Valdrow,most of which,aside from the Argentina mention,I am in accoRd with.

No matter all the planning,posturing,debating,pundit comments,tv comments and so on,let us all PONDER THESE thoughtS;

Until we,the American People have the energy and plain guts to get the job done,the forthCOMING Ballot Box in November 2012 will be our salvation or,devastation, unless,All americans consider the basic facts of life.

When BHO was voted into office and made his all too infamous statements as to his intentions,To Totally and uneqivocally Transform the United States of AMERICA AND IMPLEMENT HIS RADICAL PROGRAMS,THEN LATER BYPASS OUR REVERED CONSTITUTION THROUGH HIS 25 OR SO CZARS,THE DIE WAS CAST AND THE ROAD TO THE CURRENT DEBT SITUATION WAS PUT INTO OPERATION.

I DO NOT ENVISION THE REID NOR BOEHNER PLANS AS BEING ABLE TO PASS MUSTER FROM THE HOUSE THROUGH THE DEMO CONTROLLED SENATE.

AND THE SO CALLED DISASTER OF AUGUST 2, OF NO PAYMENTS TO SENIORS,MEDICARE,OUR VALIANT SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN,ETC,IS PLAIN RHETORIC BY THE FAR LEFT NAYSAYERS TO FRIGHTEN FOLKS INTO BELIEVING,THE SKY IS GOING TO FALL.

NONSENSE.!!!!!!!!

WHEN WE DEEPLY CONCERNED AND ANGRY AMERICANS, RID OURSELVES OF BHO AND HIS MINIONS FROM OFFICE IN 2012, THEN AND ONLY THEN,WILL AMERICA HAVE THE FORCES IN OFFICE TO FORESTALL THE NEAR DISASTROUS SITUATION THE ONE TERM BHO GANG WILL HAVE IMPLEMENTED TO THAT POINT.

IF NOT,MAY OUR MOST REVERED GOD ABOVE,SAVE US ALL.

REVERENTLY, THIS OLD WW2 VETERAN HAS CAUTIOUSLY, WITH SINCERE CONVICTIONS,PLACED THESE THOUGHTS RESPECTFULLY IN PRINT FOR ALL LIKE MINDED AMERICANS TO DIGEST.

OLD RED

Attempting to "fix" a problem spawned out of a socialist debt-system that has always failed is asinine.

The answer is a "full return to a Constitutional Republic" as a democracy AND the Us Code is anathema to individual God-Given freedom/rights.

Obama NEVER swore to "faithfully execute the Laws of the USA" I N P U B L I C !

In private is questionable as he won't enforce any Law like securing our borders, so to expect him to do any right thing is ludicrous.

We need two things, term limits and an ironclad BBA (BTW, the president has no legal role in either part, just Congress and the States)

Alas, neither will happen. Congress is not about to limit it's ability to do whatever it wants, legal or otherwise.

We are in for difficult times.

The TP People clamoring for passage of “Cut, Cap and Balance” believe it provides for actual “cuts” in spending, i.e., that the Republicans propose to spend less this year than last. They don’t know that CC&B passed by the House provides for a $2.4 trillion INCREASE in spending. Have we ever seen such instances of blatant LYING to the American People as that which is now being done by the Republicans?

Push instead for an Enumerated Powers Act such as Congressman Shadegg introduced several years in a row.

See here. http://publiushuldah.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/why-the-balanced-budget-amendment-is-a-hoax-and-a-deadly-trap/

Call your district Representatives NOW!

Demand that he reject John Boehner's and "ALL" plans that raise the debt limit.

Years ago when a environmental group said there was some (invisible) spotted owl in Oregon's forest, the federal government had no problem sending thousands of hard working mill workers and other citizen's to the unemployment line.

Are federal and federally mandated federal and state servants more important than the citizens that pay them?

So much so that our representatives would destroy the country simply to pay servants what they want?

If the government is out of money, SHUT IT DOWN.

Send everyone not in the military to the unemployment lines and lift all the federal mandates that are keeping our country from prospering;

That way those leaving government will have somewhere to work.

The Constitution was not meant to be played games with; We can see what has happened by allowing the federal government to step outside it's limited DELEGATED powers and to appease special interests, Unions with their MAXIMUM wages and benefits; Wasteful Corporate contracts and undelegated and mandated bureaucracies.

Tell your representatives to REFUSE ANY plans or attempts to raise the debt ceiling.

Tell them to do their job, reduce the budget, reduce the government, stay within the limited delegated powers as originally intended;

Or else all the dangers that the Founders had spoke of that would befall such misuse of the Constitution could very well come to pass in our life time.

Repeal the 16th amendment so that the taxes will once again be collected ONLY AFTER the need is ENUMERATED and a consensus taken.

LIMIT the federal government to the delegated powers as ORIGINALLY INTENDED.

NEVER vote in a fairtax or flat tax; These are tax plans based upon flat percentages and would act only to increase money to the governments automatically as the private income and purchasuing power increases without oversight or consent. Worse, it allows the federal government to dictate to ststes what is and what is not a business, it invites them into your livingroom; it is a BUY SELL AND TRADE TAX more dangerous than the income tax which should be obolished.

The federal government under the welfare clause can only collect taxes for national defense and paying for the national debt...NOTHING ELSE.

Read the 4 Suggested Founders Documents at:

American Patriot Party.CC

http://www.americanpatriotparty.cc

Get educated!

Re: Rich Byman who wrote: "I support whatever Congressman Allen West (22 CD, FL)votes for."

I, too, like Col. West; however, I must disagree with him on his nacent support for Congressman Boehner. House Republicans had the dems and president in quite a pickle last week. Then, Sen. McConnell and Mr. Boehner got weak knees. The country is toast, unless Tea Partiers can sway their representatives to hold the line on spending.

Per Article V, the President has NO role in ammending the Constitution. It's either by 2/3 of each House OR 2/3 of the States. Either way, 3/4 of the States must ratify.

What do I think?

I think we're all dead. That doesn't mean that we should just give up, only that we must simply concentrate on doing the tasks presented to us at any given moment as we follow our parts in the play of life.

Interesting that conservatives complain that almost 50% of the population doesn't pay net income taxes, but they don't blame the Bush Tax Cuts for this. Also interesting that the liberals want to get rid of the Bush Tax Cuts in order to "soak" the rich, but will increase the tax burden for the lowest income bracket from 10% to 15% (a 50% increase), and halve the child tax credit back to $500. This is going to "soak" the poor much more than it will soak the rich. Besides, the truly rich (billionaires, etc.) don't pay income taxes anyway.

My take on this administration is that there isn't a sensible person among them. They all hate themselves and project that hatred out on all the rest of us. Because they can't control themselves, they feel they must do everything they can to control the rest of us. With people as emotionally ill as these people, death would be a mercy--but we'll have to keep living with them whether we like it or not.

Sorry, folks, no solutions here.

Eliminate pork barrel projects such as funds for repairing Islamic Mosques [no funds for Christian Churches known]Cow flatulence in Brazil.

Drastically downsize the U.S. military. Notify the UN that we cannot afford to be the World's policeman

Then close foreign bases and get out of the over 167 countries that the U.S. military is in. Declare WWII over and won get out of Europe and Japan. Place the returning military and National guard on the borders and enforce US immigration laws.

Eliminate all foreign aid to redirect those funds to infrastructure repair.

Limit welfare to truly needy & require drug & alcohol screening to obtain welfare, ADC, etc..

'The general welfare of the United States' not the general welfare of the individual citizens.

Abolish the current government, and start over from 1776. Throw ALL federal laws in the trash can.

Phase out ALL federal programs. Eliminate the federal reserve. Shrink the size of the military down to the size it was in 1937. Bring ALL troops home , and station them on OUR borders. Eliminate all aid to other countries. Repeal ALL trade agreements. Eliminate ALL federal taxes. Eliminate ALL federal ownership of land in ALL states. Get the UN the hell out of our country, and our business. Form a group to research all industries that the federal government has run out of the country or eliminated, and get all of them back in business here in the USA. Ban ALL lawyers from being elected to ANY public office whatsoever. It is a conflict of interest to make laws one day, and defend the next.

Round up ALL illegals, and deport them immediatly.

Send Reid, Clinton, Obama, Pelosi, and all there friends to Jail where they belong.

Impeach the four justices of the supreme court that do not understand what is written in the constitution.

Sad to say, that this is just a start.

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of 300+ million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

We can't ELIMINATE the national debt until after we stop GROWING it through annual deficits, so BBA is only the first step. Once done, whittling away at the debt could take 50 years, but I'd prefer to see how fast it could disappear if: 1)we could improve productivity in all levels of government to 80% of available manhours, 2)get the borders secured and set serious requirements for a path to permanent status if and where appropriate for illegals already here (or a timetable for their departure), finally eliminate illegal substance abuse and all the costs of incarceration, drug enforcement, lost productivity, medical intervention and crime that accompanies it.

This is how I explained it to a liberal friend. I realize it might be a bit simplistic, but do I have the problem?

YOU want to buy a new plasma television with all the bells and whistles. The Visa card is maxxed out. YOU can barely make the (minimum monthly) payments on it now, and still keep food on the table, a warm, dry roof over your head, and clothes on your back. Do you:

a) Call the bank and ask for an increase in your credit limit

b) Go to your employer and demand a raise at gunpoint—after all, he has lots of money

c) Do without the TV and concentrate on paying down your debt

Most American families would choose c), they would make whatever adjustments needed to live within their incomes, and try to pay down that debt, because the longer you have it, and the more of it you have, the more it costs. (Ask anyone who has maxxed out their credit card and tried to pay it off by making minimum monthly payments) They might even consider a second job to help do this.

Congress (mostly the Democrats) , and the President, on the other hand, choose to do both a) and b). They also want to buy the TV.

To make matters worse, if they don’t get their way, they threaten to cut off payments from the retirement plan to Grandma. The reason they do this is because they spent the money in the “trust fund” years ago, on some really nice personalized items (Think: Robert Byrd) and replaced it with a bunch of IOU’s (still more debt), and now the retirement plan has become one huge Ponzi scheme (Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t Bernie Madoff go to prison for doing this sort of thing?)

This is not rocket science, boys and girls. Probably every middle class family in the country has had a similar discussion around the dinner table. We all understand the problem, even if the scope of the problem is unclear to us. Congress spent too much, and financed their spending with borrowed money. To make matters still more worrisome, it isn’t schoolchildren and grandparents buying savings bonds for them who they borrowed the money from, but people who don’t like us and consider us a threat.

The average middle class American family understands this.

Why don’t the people in Washington?

'The general welfare of the United States' not the general welfare of the individual citizens.

The debt is a problem, and spending is a problem, but the root problem is the government, instead of performing its prime function of defending property, forcing one man to pay the personal bills of another. This is not spending for the general welfare but for the particular welfare of persons or, worse, groups. This is not charity, but tyranny based on immoral coveting, theft, and vote buying. Moreover, it sets up a system that does not deliver. All of this redistribution is made possible by the income tax, which also is deployed without restraint to force conduct that otherwise would not be chosen by a free citizen and to destroy certain groups of people who have accumulated and husbanded wealth.

I think there's a pretty good chance that the Tea Party is our last best chance to save our country from complete ruin. The current Boehner plan is another "cave-in" to the Liberals, and if passed may seriously damage any chance the Tea Party has to bring about the changes needed to restore the Rule of Law and Judeo-Christian values needed to bring our country back from the brink.

I have made it clear to my States politicians that I will no longer send money if the Tea Party promises are not kept.

The sad thing is:

We are governed by, Greed, Insurance companies, Big Business, Lobbyist, Big Money, Wall Street and the very elite Rich and Wealthy of Society who have been spoon fed since the beginning of our "Republic". We are being fed slanted lies and propaganda by the Government pawns who are the actors and we are the audience. It is a waste of time to crow and yell about the injustice of Government management. The problem is simply out of control and the Elected officials are just being fed by our emotions only to spur them on to continue to entertain us. They do not want to lose their lifetime pension and benefits, so they tell us what we want to hear.

I once had a timber rattlesnake named lady. I handled her bare handed, no hooks or clamps, bare handed. She was used in many lectures and crawled freely over my arms during many lectures. Not once in 17 years did I hear her rattle or try to bite. She loved to be rubbed under her chin and would raise her head higher so she could be more easily rubbed. When she died I knew I had lost a reptile that could be trusted.

U said all that to say this. I trusted lady far more than any politician that is in Washington DC. All of them are crooked and putting on a really good show about how much they care about America. They talk about doing the peoples business and they do not have the slightest idea what the peoples business is. They have been taking money under the table to long and are to rich to care about the American people.

Ron Everhart

Indianapolis, Indiana

On second thought, there is a "solution" though it will never be implemented. Mr. Cohoon hints at it when he says we should go back to 1776 and throw out everything that's been done since then.

What we really need is a whole new Constitution that vests all power in the individual, recognizes the family, tribe (small group), clan (large group), county, state, nation, and nation group as derivative levels of power, and serves principally to delineate the process of dispute resolution. Truly responsible, self-reliant individuals don't need anything more than a well-understood and agreed upon dispute resolution process in order to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.

With all power vested in the individual, and all individuals faced with the responsibility for the consequences of their choices and actions under the ultimate consequence for refusal to be responsible (death), you would see a massive shake-out between all those willing (even eager) to accept responsibility for their choices and actions, and those who refuse to accept responsibility because it's always someone else's fault. If such a constitution were emplaced and accepted county by county (by majorities of the individuals living within said counties), perhaps we would see the true separation of oil and water, with the irresponsible leaving the responsible instead of trying to control them.

It's a pipe dream, of course, but if anyone's interested, I did actually draft such a constitution for use with a novel I may finish eventually. If you'd be interested in reviewing and commenting on it, email me at phoenixladyrising@yahoo.com with "Constitution" as the subject line.

A parpaphrase from a document equal in importance to the Constitution:

I hold these truths to be so obvious they do not need any defense, all of us are given by our Creator equal rights and the defense of these rights is the proper business of government. Governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed. And whenever any form of government becomes destructive of their proper functions it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute a new government based on proper foundational principles. It is in fact the DUTY of the people to throw off those who would be despots.

We are tilting at windmills if we think the corrupt self-serving system we now live under can be fixed by passing a BBA or any other piece of legislation. It does nothing to deal with "supplementals" or outright theft such as happened with the Social Security Trust Fund or the uncountable off-budget items. Ben explained clearly that a crumbling house cannot be repaired, it must be built anew on solid foundations: "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom...".

Because our nation is now nearly equally divided into the camps of those who honor the Constitution against those who Bastiat called "moochers", we are "A house divided against itself". no legislation ever devised can fix that.

There must be a new beginning of unity under the principles upon which the nation was founded or we will go the way of Rome (probably with a pinch of Zimbabwe thrown in). See IIChron 7:14. If you don't accept that sort of reference, then lets get on with separating the red States from blue and see who prospers.

Oh, and one other thing: we all grew up with the wonderful legend of Robin Hood, who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. As noble as he and his jolly men seemed to us as 10 year-olds, our parents were supposed to teach us that in a civilized society Robin and the jolly men get locked up, not re-elected!

Every last member of Congress as well as the President and his minions do not have the right to NOT balance the budget. It is their duty to balance the budget. We need more Tea Party candidates in Congress that will hold the line on runaway spending by good old boy Congessmen.

I propose that two-thirds of the state legislatures force Congress to call a limited national constitutional convention to propose the following:a balanced budget amendment of 10% of GDP, REDEFINES the general welfare statement and limits all federal government and federal court decisions to the same limits, term limits the President one term of 2 years, Senator one term of 6 years and congressman three terms of two years, no retirement or benefits of any kind after their terms are ended, limits federal workers to 10 year term limits, no unions, no retirement or benefits of any kind after their terms are over.

This entire situation is inexcusable! I would gladly trade federal jobs for private sector jobs, which would surely ensue if the gov't cut it's budget. I don't care what percetnage of our budget, debt, deficit that would amount to, many, many agencies need to be sharply reduced in size and scope, and many more eliminated completely.

Dear Patriot Post:

That debt limit thing is just like me and my brother-in-law Jimmy!

My brother-in-law, Jimmy, has been borrowing money from me for years. Although he's always paid me on time, he just asked me to borrow another $30,000 on top of the $140,000 he already owes me.

Being a prudent person, before giving Jimmy the additional loan, I looked into Jimmy's spending habits. Here's what I found:

Although Jimmy doesn't work, an old trust fund pays him $21,900 in annual income. Further investigation reveals that his annual expenses exceed his annual income by $14,600. In other words, Jimmy's expenses are about 60% higher than his income.

(Now I understand why Jimmy wants to increase his loan from $140k to $170k!)

When I diplomatically explain to Jimmy my reluctance to loan him another $30,000 given his poor money management, Jimmy gets angry: "if you don't lend me another $30k by next week, I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep buying your sister's heart medication. And I'm not sure if I'll be able to buy groceries or heat the house this winter either! In fact, if I don't get the $30k by next week, the bank is going to repo your sister's car and foreclose on her house."

"But, Jimmy", I say, "I thought you told me you'd used the initial $140k loan so that you could pay for that house in cash?"

Long story short, although I don't appreciate Jimmy's threats, since I love my sister (his wife), I offered this compromise (I'll let you know his response when and if I get it):

I agreed to lend Jimmy another $9000, but only if he agrees (starting "very soon"!) to decrease his spending by $2.46 per day.

When I said this, Jimmy got really angry and threw another tantrum: "there's no way that could work! You are trying to KILL your sister!!"

What should I do now? Help me Patriot Post!!

I believe the freshman class was elected to get this fixed. Not to get reelected. If the republicans fold in this battle, we are doomed!

Hamilton,

The answer has been proven to NOT be in the hands of our elected as they have demonstrated their inability to follow their job description. The answer lays in the words of our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution/Bill of Rights. All that remains is for our government to continue to ignore the fact they are a representative government with defined limits. The rest is nasty business which I pray is avoided.

I don't believe a BBA is going to be passed by either the Democrats or the Republicans...they don't want a restricted budget. They want to keep writing checks. It is the way to keep the PEOPLE strapped to their jobs, while the Politicians play house. I say "play house" because no one, in their right mind, would spend more than they have coming in.

The plan should included twice as many cuts as the spend...spend $1T and cut $2T. It works, plain and simple.

These elected officials have assumed a god-like , above it all - we know best halo that defies any contradiction. They are steadily marching US into destruction. The quickest and best way to bail our ship of state out of trouble is to begin organising a well published group of formidible individuals bent on calling for MARSHAL LAW. The basis of which, based on your statement:This unlawful spending and regulation is in abject violation of our elected officials' oaths to "support and defend" our Constitution, and a breach of trust in their contract with the American people, which has created a perilous national security crisis. But on the question of their constitutional authority, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi infamously claimed, "Nobody questions that."

That should shake them from their sandy foundations and enable a real rollback to Constitutional authority.

Regarding debt reduction, there are thousands of other areas (to name just a few: supporting illegal aliens, wasteful welfare programs, government bailouts, monies to special interest groups and unions, and other wasteful programs that provide monies to those who don’t, don’t want to, nor have ever earned it) in the federal budget to cut before ANY cuts are made to our troops and veterans promised and vigorously earned pay and benefits.

“According to Jonathan Schleifer, IAVA’s policy director, nothing said by White House officials made clear how veterans, their families, or active-duty personnel would be affected if the debt ceiling is not raised by Aug. 2. Richard Eubank, VFW’s National Commander, warned that any cuts veterans or troops pay and benefits would be strongly protested by his organization. Eubank likened any benefits cuts to the bonus promise broken to World War I veterans that led to the so-called Bonus Army march on Washington in 1932.”

““It took the VFW to lead thousands of them in a march on Washington until Congress made the responsible choice to support them,” Eubank said. “The VFW wouldn’t stand for broken promises then and we won't stand for it now.” Eventually the marchers were driven out by Army troops and armor and the campsite burned.” Military.com

These, among other broken promises and constitutional injuries, are good reasons to march on them again. However, this time marching with our second amendments in hand with a million or more strong veterans, will thwart “armor” from driving us out and raise some real eyebrows.

Think about, has any nation in history, or does any government really want to screw any deeper those who have been trained for warfare and to use weapons?

I think that ANY congressman/senator that votes against a balanced budget amendment should be pilloried. His vote should be advertised constantly as totally un-American until his time for re-election and that the tea party and all true conservatives should make all out efforts to make sure he or she is not re-elected. They are traitors to this country by advocating continued un-bridled spending. Their contribution to that spending should be publicized constantly.

In my opinion, this is a no brainer, no matter how you describe it 2 + 2 will always equal 4 which is something the Congress seemingly doesn't understand or more aptly doesn't want to.

Our only solution is to wake them up by voting all of them out in 2012.If we do that, we would not be any worse off, look at what we have at the helm! Complete incompetence.

R.K.Smith

Centre, Al.

Thank you for this excellent essay. I had to print it just so I could refer to it often. I wholehearted hold that "the Constitution......, is sacredly obligatory upon all" as stated by George Washington. I always look forward to your essays and articles. Thanks again for helping us continue learning what is important!

A good analysis, very patriotic with the ever

present insistence that we abide by the Constitution. Very good indeed. You cited several of our great forbearers and statesmen and gave us

direct quotes. But you forgot one thing.

This is 2011. America is in peril. She is broke,

bruised and battered. Indeed our liberties and

fredooms are at high risk, yet we are not down for

the count. We are on the cusp of the 21st Century

American Revolution. It is time to stand up for

America, else we lose her. So grab your pitchforks

my fellow Americans and be prepared for intense

sacrifice as in 1776.

Good luck, America. Good luck.

I think that any congressman/senator that does not uphold the constitution as they are sworn to do should be impeached, especially Obama as he has constantly been a repeat offender. This should take place before the Nov. 2012 elections.

Mark,

This is one I will save and redistribute at will.

I can't thank you enough for the inspiring words of our forefathers that you have written about here.

Forge ahead in your quest for liberty with my greatest wishes for success.

The paragraph directly under this by Thomas Jefferson, says it all. We have to return to the constitution no ifs ands or butts.

R. K. Smith

Centre, Al.

Great article. However, I am convinced that until the whole USA comes crashing down, financially or otherwise, the citizenry will do nothing but vote and be frustrated. Voting is fine and good, but we are quickly heading to a situation that is not unlike the situation in 1860. At that time certain States (The South) felt that voting was no longer good enough. And so we all know what happened. It will certainly come to this again, although I don't know when. Voting is no longer good enough, as we are witnessing before our very eyes what is going on in DC right now. Neither party has the guts to do what is right to save our county. They are all playing politics while our Country goes over the financial cliff! When that happens there will be nothing left but a call to Arms.

Trying to fix the out of control government spending and unconstitutional programs with a Balanced Budget Amendment is like trying to stop someone from shooting a gun by putting your finger in the muzzle of the gun. It ignores the source of the threat. It is not the gun, it is the person that is holding the gun. No matter how big of a finger you have, you will loose it and probably most of your hand.

We elected a new crew in 2010 to fix our march to a Marxist, Socialist government that is spending us into oblivion and all they are doing is debating on how far they should stick our collective fingers into the barrel of our governments deficit spending gun. The question is how are we supposed to stop it if our elected ignore us and treat us with contempt.

Interesting post, but it starts in medias res, so to speak.

Perhaps the starting point should be the link between debt and the money supply, or between debt and currency. The current debate presupposes that there is a Connstitutional link between money and debt, but there is no such provision in the Constitution nor in the Bill of Rights.

Instead, the Constitution provides for the issuance of money by the US Treasury, and makes no mention of a link between debt and currency.

The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 changed this provision and made the Federal Reserve the body responsible for issuing money, doing so in exchange for debt. The reason for its existance is simple. The banks were facing a shrinkage in their power as interest rates declined and debt shrunk in the 1910 era; they had to do something to regain control of the economy. The nation had national banks twice before and disestablished them each time. The third time's the charm, as the Federal Reserve, the child of Paul Warburg, a German banker, has lasted almost 100 years.

So now we have come full circle, the nation cannot pay its bills unless it issues debt. However, the intereste on the debt it issues is a tax on the money supply, which is probably illegal.

President Lincoln faced the same problem we face today, even though he didn't have to contend with a national bank. His solution was to issue greenback dollars unbacked by debt. The world didn't end and the Civil War got financed.

President Kennedy issued Executive Order 11110, which was designed to set in motion a movement toward the reining in and eventual dissolution of the private Federal Reserve System; it may have gotten him killed.

We must break the link between debt and money; we must disestablish the Federal Reserve System as the issuer of our currency. If we don't, we are doomed. We can best celebrate the 100th anniversary fo the Federal Reserve by getting rid of it.

Barry Harmon

I am some what well read and agree that all this spending must stop, taxes must be reduced and rule of law applied. But what I cannot get my mind around is this: What would a Constitutional budget look like? I read that one solution might be to model a budget around those of the early 1800’s. I’m not sure about that as their world is not our world. But the principles of their world do apply to ours. So I would like to see the Post propose a Constitutional budget and in doing so explain as to what is constitutional and what is not – certainly as many currently budgeted items would fall to the floor. Perhaps that would shape the debate for 2012.

EXCELLENT article, Mark - thanks very much! If our Constitution is "living", then all our laws are living, which means that none of them are worth the words written in them. At what point do laws become concrete and really mean what is written if we follow the principle of "living" laws? Why stop with the Constitution? Do we follow traffic laws which were designed for antiquated automobiles when my modern sports car can safely negotiate a 35 mph turn at 65? At what point do we have anarchy? A tyrant will insist on his laws being strictly enforced while others' laws aren't so important.

The Constitution is like rag that both Parties have chewed on over the years and it is in tatters!

The legislature has violated it; the Judiciary too. The executive Branch, particulary under Obama has almost made it meaningless.

How do we get it back? How do we repair it?

Our current voters are too ignorant and complacent and vote away their Country.

Why did we get into this mess? Because the liberals do what they do. And the sheeple do nothing. The unions and tax supported groups are spending like there's no tomorrow in Wisconsin. What are the sheeple doing? Nothing. The unions and even the politicians went on strike. If there's more taxes and more debt, what will the sheeple do? Nothing. And the Democrats and Republicans know it. You only have those rights you defend. You have no rights. There is no Constitution. Do you even know what constitution means?

No matter what happens, U.S. debt will be downgraded a notch or two, to the delight of Wall Street and foreign lenders, as interest rates rise. In Congress, the debt ceiling will HAVE to be lifted unless the administration agrees to make deep cuts in all discretionary spending right now, which is impossible to expect.

My wish is to raise the ceiling enough to pay all bills through about May of 2012. This would give voters in many primary elections a clear choice: For candidates who want to keep on spending, or for candidates who say "stop."

Stay with the argument that the US is long overdue for balancing its books and allowing for an annual surplus so that we retire our accumulated debt.

We'll do this by changing the entitlement programs, make them conform to actuarial tables. We may need means testing for social security and Medicare payments.

And please continue your argument to bolster defense spending; that's real security!

If the Republicans cave-in on the debt-ceiling issue, after all their posturing and blustering, the biggest loss for them will be their credibility.

Unfortunately for us, the sixteenth amdendment is so broad and vague, that is why congress, senators, and the president and do whatever the heck they want as far as raising our taxes. The 16th Amendment says: "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration." THIS IS WHY WE ARE IGNORED and LIED to by the Gov.

It is clear now more than ever that Barrack Hussein Obama is a Marxist/Socialist whose agenda is to first destroy the United States as it has been organized for over 300 years and then replace it with his Marxist/Socialist form of government. In order to justify his agenda he has masked his programs as beneficial to all Americans. Raising the debt ceiling and taxes are part of this plan of destruction The over 2,000 page "Obamacare" program has secret, hidden bills which take away even more of our freedoms and raise the government spending to the skies. The uneducated masses think this bill will give them "free" healthcare and that is all it is about. Since a very large percentage of Americans do not pay taxes (those on welfare, illegal aliens posing as citizens and other types who feed off of government largesse) Obama is counting on this group to re-elect him. Of course the unions are governed by Washington, which is another part of Obama's plan, which is to have all of this country dictated to by him and his left-wingers. He has Eric Holder in place as the Department of Justice to hold off any legal actions, and, just in case, they escape Holder, he has Kagan, who has been his personal lawyer, placed in the Supreme Court. Her dissertation at Harvard was on Socialism. It can be found on the Internet. With these and his Czars, Obama has been in the cat bird's seat. The Tea Party has now risen and hopefully something will come about to keep Obama from too much more destruction for the rest of his term. At the end of his term we will have to remake everything to restore Constitutional law!

What do I think? I think the America in which I grew up is doomed, never to return. It's too late for my grandchildren, they're all adults or nearly so, but I had hoped my great grandchildren might have the freedoms and opportunities I have had; until the election of Barak Obama as president. I fear there aren't enough Constitutionalists in Congress (and certainly not in the Supreme Court) to turn the tide.

I hope, of course, I'm wrong, and I will continue to support those politicians I feel believe in the Constitution and the rule of law, but I do so out of a sense of obligation. As I once served in the Navy out of that sense of duty and obligation, so I now vote for and support said politicians; and because, as an American, I do not give up.

Spending is definately out of control and the politicians are not listening. At minimum, the federal budget should be tied to a percentage of GDP and could not be changed with a super majority of both houses in time of emergency.

Spending could be curbed with the elimination of the Departments of Education, Homeland Security and Energy, the combination of all Federal Law Enforcement into one entity, the cutting of foreign aid to only certain friendly nations and finally eliminate the IRS and implement the flat tax.

That would be a good start..

The answer to this was outlined by Jefferson, who had the opinion that a series of small revolutions should take place:

"God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, & always, well informed."

We must rebel from the tyrannical state. I recommend massive peaceful resistance. Stop feeding the beast. If you stop feeding it, they will cease to exist, and once again ask the people for their sustenance instead of the other way around.

This is the tide of history. If we DON'T rebel, we will degenerate into a police state as much as the size of the country allows, before we inevitably go broke, which is a certainty.

I think the citizens of this country need to grab the reins of Congress, give a mighty heave and yell "WHOA!".

My plan for reining in Congress:

1. No pension

2. Each member of Congress is limited to earning the median income of the area they represent. This will assure that their interests are focused on what is best for their constituents.

3. Their salary is tied to meeting specific benchmarks, such as passing a budget, etc. No work, no pay.

4. Let them live in the equivalent of military barracks if single, or enlisted military housing if married.

5. Health benefits, etc are the same as an enlisted military person's. (They can show up at 6am to sit in the sick call clinic in the hopes of getting an appointment that day and wait months to see specialists)

6. Any fees earned doing speaking engagements, signing autographs or whatever goes to a scholarship fund for low income students in their district.

7. Make them live by every regulation they pass, NO EXCEPTIONS.

The question should be "By What Authority?". The Founders are clear, from Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, to George Washington. A pertinent quote from Thomas Jefferson, "I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution ... taking from the federal government their power of borrowing." - Letter of Nov. 26, 1798.

Sorry, ex-Speaker Pelosi (I love the sound of that), maybe nobody you rub shoulders with in Taxifornia questions the authority, but plenty of us who read the Constitution and vote do. But case in point, California has a balanced budget amendment, a lot of good it has done them when the legislature and executive choose to ignore it or declare endless emergencies and crises in order to circumvent it. Indeed, Speaker Pelosi on Jan. 4, 2007, upon being handed the gavel, had promised "After years of historic deficits, this 110th Congress will commit itself to a higher standard: Pay as you go, no new deficit spending. Our new America will provide unlimited opportunity for future generations, not burden them with mountains of debt." Speaker Boehner would do well to hold to that standard.

President Obama has shown no intent to be constrained by settled law or the Constitution. He has ignored the immigration laws, voter intimidation laws, and his administration has publicly announced it will not prosecute under the DOMA statute. He is in open defiance of the Florida Court ruling on the unconstitutionality of the whole of PPACA, aka Obamacare, not just the individual mandate.

Until the Federal Government is brought back under the enumerated powers constraints imposed by Art. 1, Section 8 and the 9th and 10th Amendment, the Congress and Executive Branch will continue to hemorrhage taxpayer funds and borrow more than they spend.

It does nothing to reduce the debt to cut deals where we accept promises of down the road so-called "spending cuts", which are actually minute reductions in the rate of spending growth, in exchange for open checkbook spending authority for the President. Go ahead, Popeye, buy Wimpy that hamburger, he said he'll pay for it next Tuesday.

And Nancy Pelosi will support no new deficit spending - - next day after tomorrow

The House must stand firm no bal budget amendment, no deal. Tell Harry Reid the House controls the spending, not the Senate. Reid and Obama are the party of NO.

We as a people MUST exercise our power as the Masters of our government to demand that a BBA be introduced and passed. Anything short of this will be just another band-aid to the problem. Barak Obama's comment of "kicking the can down the road" is excatly what is beening done with this "dog and pony show" in Washington. If the "Genius of the People" is allowed to express it's self the correct solution would become obvious and be implemented.

A balanced budget ammendment may seem like a sensible way to get our house in order, but, how do you keep the federal judges from meddling with the new ammendment?

Since spending on things which, since FDR, are "considered" to fall under the phrase "and general welfare", lets amend the constitution and REMOVE THOSE THREE WORDS leaving the entity known as "the United States", which is not the "United States of America", to provide for the common defense only. One might also put clamps on the commerce clause too.

It appears to me that the root of all the hulla balloo is a reversal of the Reagan era plan, which in effect lowered the amount of ready cash the government had to "play" with to a level that only the barest minimum of government could exist. In effect, the Reagan plan was to cut taxes to the point that the big spenders had little to work with. The money wasn't there, it was in the citizens hands.

The big spenders have reversed that game, or are intending to, by spending so much that taxes have GOT to be raised, rather than cutting taxes so much that the spenders had nothing to work with. This was done by big spenders on both sides. Nothing that politicians like to do more than spend OUR money to keep THEMSELVES in office. And as long as the American citizenry maintains this entitlement mentality, that isn't going to get better.

Democrats, in their turn, advance our Society several steps toward Socialism and Republicans, in their turn merely slow down the advance (in the spirit of compromise.) I fear, then,that we are in an exhorable march toward Socialism, no matter what?

The 16th Amendment was never ratified by the required two-thirds majority (see: thelawthatneverwas).

Were I not 70 years old and skilled in the U.S. Constitution law, I would fight them tooth and nail.

Two points that must be added to this discussion:

1. Is Social Seurity really a "Ponzi'scheme? The so-called victims of Ponzi schemes WILLINGLY invest their funds...usually with greedy hopes. Those of us who had NO choice, e.g. from age 16 to age 68, every paycheck was dinged by FICA - and not one penny WILLINGLY given to the government

2. A stupid citizenry.....yes!!! The media is the real reason for our ignorance...it promotes only the interest of the 'rulers' and their money masters. Turn off the TV and cancel the newspaper.

Now that there are more ways to educate US as voters, make use of the Internet and start to THINK instead of being brainwashed.

Outstanding essay. Thank you. It remains to be seen if there are enough Americans left to reinstate the Constitution.

We cannot sustain the level of spending, a "soft" tryanny of indebtness will drive this country down.

Essential Liberty, man is free to enjoy the fruit of "HIS" labor and enterprise, not to have it given away to others.

The answer to your most pressing question: "By what authority does the central government collect taxes, and on what items is it authorized to spend those combined taxes and accumulated national debt?" is found in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution of the US, and it does not include ObamaCare, or, for that matter, most of the items in the budget. In the words of Edmund A. Opitz:

"No one can read our Constitution without concluding that the people who wrote it wanted their government severely limited; the words 'no' and 'not' employed in restraint of government power occur 24 times in the first seven articles of the Constitution and 22 more times in the Bill of Rights."

What is going on concerning the budget debate is insane. Consider; I am just Joe Schmuck who has worked all my life and lived within my means so I could retire and take a breather. What our President and congress have done is void all I have worked for, I am 78 and looking for work. I did my part and the government has taken it away my dreams. Make no mistake, we are where you'all want us to be. It is you'all who created the mess and you make Joe Schmuck to bail you out. Close it down!

We need to cut cap and take away the credit cards, they need to live within their means without stealing our children's future. If I have to live on 50% less they should also. what part of NO! don't they understand. we should send them home or to prison. NO MORE.

the tea party lives and will take back America.

Are we going to restore constitutional government? It seems that even many folks who think we need to return to constitutional government also hold the contradictory notion that a certain amount of unconstitutional behavior is acceptable in the form of entitlement schemes such as social security and medicare.

The vast majority of us will only agree to talk about tweaking the schemes to push the bankruptcy date out as far as possible. Very few, if any, are seriously suggesting we must eliminate them, even partially. Reform proposals keep most of these schemes in-tact and the default date looming.

Other people's, in this case, the Chinese and future generations of Americans' money is way too important to us. More than likely, this bad borrowing habit is resolved in our lifetime unless someone figures out how to push the default date out 50 to 100 years. This doesn't make it right, it just makes it later.

Even if social security and medicare are "reformed," other out-of-control spending by we the people will ensure the same outcome. As so many are correctly pointing out, we don't get to decide what our real debt limit is. That is left to those willing to purchase it. Our credit-worthiness is treading on thin ice.

How do we convince the majority of 300 million Americans to insist on constitutional rule of law before we succumb to ruler's law?

As usual, your essay is excellent. I am constantly amazed at how our politicians and courts consistently ignore the Constitution. This administration and it's cadre pose the greatest danger to our country since the War of 1812.(FDR notwithstanding in my remark). I have grave reservations as to where this could lead.

The Congress must defund those departments that are not autorized by the Constitution and hold the line on the debt limit. It should not be raised. The funding for each terminated department should be decreased gradually over a year's time to provide time for those affected to develop new jobs.

The current revenue will meet the needs of interest on the debt, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, armed forces and VA. The rest should be aportioned to the defunded departments except the EPA and Education departments should be closed today.

I know it will not happen but it would get our budget back in control.

Follow the constitution,do away with foreign aid,phase out social security,government should not be responsible for our healthcare,retirement,employment,and most of the things they are involved in.

It's past time to remind those "representaives" in DC that .. "The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale." --Thomas Jefferson.

We don't need another Constitutional Amendment they'll simply ignore - we need to demand their spending to only those things authorized by Article 1, Section 8!

The Republicans promised that in their 2010 Pledge to America - they would cite Constitutional authority for everything they did!

We the People need to demand more adherence to the Constitution and its' original intent!

Thanks Mark.

The current taxing structure should be eliminated as it now exists and replaced with a state by state taxing structure. Tax monies would be expended for the benefit of those who pay them and the federal government should have to go to the states to ask for their income. The states, by referendum would decide the amount to give to the federal government from the state's purse to pay for the Constitutionally mandated programs. The federal government should then levy the stipulated Constitutional taxes and tariffs to supplement their budget. In this way the states would then control the federal government in the same way the federal government currently controls them

A full scale revoltion is in order.

I applaud your article. I have been bombarding the Speaker and my erstwhile representatives who are of the liberal progressive Socialist wing of the Democrat Party to cut cabinet offices and departments. I suggested Energy, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Health Education and Welfare, and such non cabinet executive accretions as the National Institutes of Health that is providing grants for studies outside the U.S. and even to universities in China, and the Environmental Protection Agency that is only interested in impeding any exploitation of mineral wealth in this country. I needless to say have never received any sane answer or discussion.

Mark, All that you say here is right on. However, it is not the real issue IMHO. This whole thing is planned. Barack Obama has only one purpose and that is to destroy the United States of America. We are the only nation standing in the way of these Marxist goals of global governance. Unfortunately, the present regime is in a position to do just that. These"budget/spending" debates are just a smokescreen to deter us from what is really happening. We need to wake up to that fact or there won't be an election, a fair one anyway, in 2012. I believe there will be some sort of "crisis" developed that will give Obama free reign to declare martial law, and establish himself as dictator. I think this is supported by both democrats and too many republicans. The only difference is how to accomplish this goal. Biblically, the United States has no significance. What we are seeing right now is the rise of the "Great Bear from the North" (Russia) the "Hordes from the East" (China) and certain middle eastern countries. Israel has to stand alone, and they are almost there. You and I and any others who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior know what happens after that. I pray for those that don't.For far too long, we have in this country put the cart before the horse. The cart is now far ahead of the horse and I fear, unstoppable.

Blessings to all at the Patriot Post!

Our present troubles began in 1934 and again in 1935 when FDR's hand-picked Supreme Court ruled that the "general welfare clause" was to be properly interpreted as granting Congress the prerogative to spend where and when it wished.

That decision flies in the face of what James Madison intended when he penned those words. Spending was to conform to the 12 (only 12) "enumerated" duties listed in Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution. Health "care," retirement, mortgages, education, "the environment," bail-outs, subsidies are not listed.

The Founders enumerated those duties purposefully to LIMIT the scope and reach of the government -- which, by the way, is no longer "federal."

If the duty isn't listed in 1:8, it was remanded to The States -- a rubric reinforced by Madison when he authored the Tenth Amendment.

1:8 and the Tenth Amendment are an organic whole, to be taken as extensions of each other.

Once those twelve "enumerated" duties were fulfilled, the Congress was to adjourn, go home, and leave We, the People, alone.

Interesting that the DEMONCRATS are calling the republicans juvenile for holding out on the debt increase without spending cuts. It's those SOBs that are throwing the tantrums, calling names, and threatening that the world will end. Obviously they are unqualified to hold any elected office.

Most of the current national debt is due to Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II. When Reagan took over, he only inherited about 950 billion in total U.S. debt. Once he left after 8 years of failed supply side \'trickle down\' economic myth, we were left with a staggering 2.8 trillion dollar debt. Then, Bush I brought that number to 5 trillion after only 4 short years. Finally, under Clinton, and our Nations most prosperous economic times, in 8 years the debt was almos the same. Why? Because Clinton raised taxes on the top 2% which brought in more revenue and created 23 million jobs. He also got spending under control. So, the same 5 trillion is what was left for Bush II. What happened? Well, we had two rounds of tax cuts (which again did not trickle down and create jobs, but rather created a larger social class divide) and after 2 wars and and unpaid for prescription drug plan and a bank bailout in 2008 the national debt was up to over 10 trillion!!! Now, to keep the economy from colpsing further (although losing 750,000 jobs a month is pretty bad) Obama has added almost another 3 trillion. I know Obama is spending a lot, I don\'t deny that, but we have to look at the facts and realize who is REALLY responsible for all the debt and spending and larger Government. Under Obama, we have lost Public sector jobs, and gained private sector for 9 straight months. Anyone know about Bush? His job growht was strictly in the public sector with a net 0 gain in private sector jobs over 8 years. Again, only facts here. Let\'s put the blame where it belongs. Reagan, Bush I and Bush II. We need to bring back Clintonomics...it is what really worked!

Thanks

Mark,

It's time to make the hard but right decision to hold spending at current levels, and begin shrinking our government to the point it serves the people. I'm ready for it now.

I have used the "Wimpy/Popeye" analogy to describe the debt ceiling;

"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a Hamburger today"

Every week Wimpy keeps his hand out, and the compassionate Popeye lets him slide. Now Wimpy is some 14 trillion dollars in debt. Folks that's 14 followed by 12 ZEROS! 10 to the 12 power! I ask the neomarxists here and now; WHEN DO YOU STOP? When the debt is a quadrillion (10 to the 15 power). Enough! If you so love big government start sending back your refunds, live on 60k a year and give the rest away. Put your money where your mouths are!

It's too late. Liberalism has taken over the morons we brought into the world. They want their perks and could care less who pays for it. My wife is right, we're too stupid to be a Democracy.

I think that the Republicans should compromise and give the Democrats what they want, higher taxes.

All registered Democrat voters since 2007 would be taxed at the rate during Presidents Carter's time and anybody that has donated to a Democrat or Democrat organization would have anther 10% added on to the Carter tax and anybody that has publicly said that taxes need to be raised put them in a 90% tax bracket with no deductions allowed.

It amazes me as our goverment argues and fights about the budget and the deficit.

How they threatening to take the money from the weak of our society - the elderly, the disabled and the veterans if a particular budget is not reached...

My question is why don't they cut their own salaries and their benefits? Why are they threatening to take from the helpless? Is that godly at all?

Did Obama pray before he had the revelation not to send out Social Security and Disability checks?

Proverbs 22:22,23 Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.

Proverbs 22:16 He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.

Hey, here are some suggestions to cut the budget:

1. STOP PAYING for ABORTIONS Nationally and Internationally!

2. STOP spending to causes like these..$1.9 million for a little-used water taxi to a desolate Connecticut community

3. STOP Speding on Art projects like these...$3.8 million for an urban artwork project in Rochester, N.Y.

4. CUT YOUR PAY President, Senators and Congressmen!

Well, the list can go on and on...it is because you (President and your cabinet) have no heart for this nation and you are more concerned about your own belly than of others. Greed and Selfishness is your motivation! Sin is in your hearts and that is why you reach the decisions you reach in high places of government! One world government is your motivation so you can be the head of the International Money Fund!

They WANT to destroy our dollar so they can bring about the new world order that Biden and others spoke about!

The Lord knows what you are doing and He is ahead of you! Psa 18:26 With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd!

You want to hear wisdom? FEAR GOD and REPENT! He may hear you and help this nation!

I am preparing to quit a job making about $50,000.00 per year ( which is taxed confiscatorially ) and move to my other house in the country-a tiny dwelling of 850 SF which I have labored to repair into habitability over the last 10 years. It has 3/4 acre, more than enough to till into intensive fertility over time.

The reason? If I make less money I will pay less in taxes. Oh, that's not the only reason; my son will be able to ride his bike to the drugstore for a Coke without getting shot in a drive-by for having red hair. He will attend a school owned by the DAR where he will be allowed to pay homage to our revered Revolutionary ancestors. The local businesses are not patronized by insufferably rude people who block aisles to "conversate." I can hear birds chirping from my porch and friendly neighbors ride on bikes, 4-wheelers, or walk by and nod, speak, or stop to visit.

The face of back-to-the-landers is changing from exclusively liberal former hippy readers of "Mother Earth News." If not to embrace then at least welcome as uneasy allies, conservative Christian types such as yours truly. ( Libs label us as survivalists with a pejorative sneer. )

I will adjust my spending, seek low-cash, barter alternatives, raise much of my own food ( a 1/4 acre plot of wheat can yield 400-500 lbs. of tasty flour for home made bread-yum! ) and become involved in my church, school, and scouting activities to an extent I have been unable to achieve while working 60-70 hours per week "earning my bread."

If I can't get my government to listen to me when say " STOP SPENDING!" I will work around that impediment and stop giving them so much to spend. In my book, fewer glitzy TAXABLE possessions equals freedom. ( That proposed internet tax just beats all, BTW. I shop online to avoid enduring crappy retail environments and to get exactly what I want, not what Walmart wants to sell me. )

Yes, we are seceding from a bankrupt society-one family at a time!

The last 80 years have seen the Constitution reduced to an artifact, mostly by leftist members of Congress, occasionally aided and abetted by the SCOTUS and or the POTUS. The rightist's contributed to the demise by either joining with those who cared more about self than the country or by wringing their hands in despair while watching the carnage instead of standing up for the Oath they took to protect and defend. Foregoing is the simplistic view but not the whole story. There have been four presidential assassinations and six more attempted. Some were by mentally deranged individuals but not all. Several were by persons sponsored by others who had an ax to grind, such as the defense of liberty...as they perceived it. The words of Thomas Jefferson seem appropriate in view of the corruption

currently on display in Washington DC and therefore

it would not surprise me if an attempt were made on our current POTUS given his contempt for the people and for the Constitution. The vast numbers of Secret Service people assigned to protect him are evidence that he is not well liked by many and absolutely despised by a large minority. I will leave it to others to speculate about the character traits that engender his actions but his ability to lie is certainly at or near the top of the list. Were he a member of the military he would have received enough Code Red's or General Courts-Martial to send him down the road (or up the river) long ago. I have long wondered why it is a violation of law to lie to an officer of the government but its ok for an officer of the government to lie to the people. Has anyone listened to Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi lately? Just two of the many.

I just turned 80. For the sake of our 8 children (2 RIP), 14 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren and the millions and millions of Americans destroyed by the policies of Barak Hussein Obama, I could not help but shed a tear. I read with great interest your historical expose. The evil and harm that befalls our Nation is unprecedented. May God help us and guide us to defeat him and the Democrats (and those masquerading as Conservative Republicans) in the elections of November 2012.

Sir, by arguing what the founders meant, you give the current residents of the cesspool which is Washington DC far too much credit. They neither have the desire, ability or the willingness to run this nation under the Constitution as they have been seduced by the Washington DC power triangle. The best thing which could happen to this country is for Washington, in it's entirety, to be shut down for about 2 or 3 years.

Congress has the power to raise armed forces for the protection of the nation from without. It further has the power of creating a police force for the apprehension of individuals who break federal law although this is not expressly stated since the passage of such laws requires an enforcement of such laws. It has the power to coin and regulate the value of money. It has the power to maintain and by extension create postal roads. These are the only powers specifically granted to the Congress. The other more amorphous power is that of the general welfare. Notice however that it is the welfare of the United States and not that of any specific citizen or class of citizens. This like the common defense mentioned just prior to it only grants Congress those powers which are necessary to keep the Union from being dissolved by threats from without or within as is written in the oaths of office of those serving the United States. It does not grant Congress the power to do whatever they take into their mind as being good for the United States, but merely to prevent evil from befalling our country as a whole. No other power is granted to the Congress (or any other branch of the federal government) than that which is necessary to keep order within and without. Everything else is left to the states by the Tenth Amendment.

The shortest route to the return of Constitutional Government lies with the Executive. Because the President has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution it is his duty to see to it that no department of the Executive branch carries out any action that is unconstitutional. He has no power to appropriate funds, but his obliged to see that funds that are appropriated by Congress are used constitutionally. This means that he must see to it that all regulations are constitutional, that any appropriations by Congress for unconstitutional programs are not spent, that any agencies, bureaus, departments etc. that are unconstitutional are shut down and any functions of them that are constitutional are given to other more appropriate departments etc. For instance, the National Endowment for the Arts is wholly unconstitutional and should be shut down by the President forthwith. The BATFE is unconstitutional and should be shut down with those functions which are constitutional being given to Justice or the FBI.

Then there are programs that are clearly unconstitutional which cannot be immediately shut down without doing great harm and breaking obligations which we have made. Such is the case of Social Security. We have taken from the people through payroll deductions to provide for them in their old age. In order to end this monstrosity we must first end the enrollment of anyone else into this program. Aliens, both legal and illegal, should be removed from the program as they are not citizens. Payroll deductions should continue to be taken from those in the programs, but each person should have an account set up where their monies are specifically deposited and from which they are disbursed at the appropriate time. These accounts should bear interest and the account holders should have some ability to determine where the monies would be invested. Those not enrolled in the program should be taxed to fund it until it is totally solvent at which point any deficiencies should be taken out of the general fund until all account holders are deceased and the program is ended. Actions such as these would be the quickest way to restore our Constitutional Republic.

A balanced budget amendment will, in my estimation, not work since it will be part of the living constitution and as such will be subject to change (or may simply be ignored) by the whims of those in power. In order for it to be effective it must have a clause stating that any one voting for or signing a budget that is not balanced will forfeit his office and will be subject to prosecution with a mandatory prison sentence written directly into the amendment.

I feel that the debt limit should not be raised under any circumstances and that the Federal Government should have to be reduced in size to exist on what taxes come in, without tax increases. I support the FAIR TAX. If it in enacted and the 16th Amendment recinded, a lot of our problems will go away. The IRS would be history and April 15 would be just another calendar day.

I also believe that every part of our Federal Government should be examined to determine constitutionality, and those departments and programs that are not should be immediately eliminated, without exception.

That done, the States, counties and cities can take over those functions as our Founders intended.

Obama will be known as a worse President than Jimmy Carter. He cannot speak for more than 2 minutes without a prompter. Hold his feet to the fire for a Balanced Amendment. Reed will agree on cuts that amount to nothing as he is the greatest at smoke and mirrors.

I don't believe a significant enough majority of American voters have the moral will or intelligence enough to elect true fiscal conservatives to the Congress. For years I have watched conservative voters sit back and do nothing. More deplorable than that, I have watched so called conservative Republicans cave to the threats of liberals (usually Democrats, although the Republican party has a significant number of traitors it it) for years, afraid of "offending someone". The truth is the majority of Republicans in the Senate and a disturbing number in the house could find their balls with both hands and a flashlight (women have balls too, metaphorically speaking).

I'm at a point where I don't see much hope for the Union. Conservative cowards, a.k.a., gutless wonders, don't have the will, wisdom or integrity to stand up to liberals. Liberals are like flies and gants. They will not go away. The only way you get rid of them is to swat them down. What ever economic mayhem gets passed in the next few days will undoubtedly screw the hard working tax payer even more than they've been screwed so far. If this country has any hope of surviving, the 2012 elections must, and I repeat, must produce a Congress that is at least 60% true fiscal conservatives. I really doubt that that will happen. Those of us left in America who take the Constitution seriously are in the minority. Liberals and RINO's have let the flood gates open to the south and they breed like rabbits. Our idiot politicians give citizenship to the children of illegal aliens. How can there be hope in that?

The man who now occupies the White House is a disgrace to the office. Those in Congress who daily do his bidding are a disgrace to the principles of this once great nation. Since there is no other territory available to which we can flee, it seems that stand and fight is the only option. I only hope the military sides with the people instead of the government when that comes to pass.

Alexander and others have expressed valid concerns about the runaway spending the ruling class has perpetuated to insure their tenure. I firmly believe the case has not been made clearly enough that the 8th Commandment (Thou shalt not steal.) has been violated to an unequaled degree in history. The unfunded commitments and broken promises, the deliberate degradation of our currency, and the willful selling of political patronage is so commonplace, it is rarely noted by the dominant media. The obfuscation of the current crisis seems to be a greater threat to liberty than the extension of the legal debt limit itself.

These people and their enablers are criminals, period.

What I really think is it is time to impeach this President and remove a bunch of feckless floor flushing hacks that are throwing our country into the abyss.

Binladen in his wildest dreams could not do more harm to our nation. We were never encourged to send faxes or jam his office with phone calla, and yet we are told that as we watch these marxists take oer our country and ignore our constitution and dismantle it. the best we can do is send faxes to these feckless polititions. Is it not time for torches and pitchforks!?

To: Rifleman,

Impeccable logic once again. Thank you. Madison had it figured out. Others along America's timeline, have screwed it up.

I balance my budget. Like all working people we have limited income and can't take from others as Gov't can. We need a balanced budget amendment and a return of public servants to Congress not like the leaches we presently allow to rob us blind. Making financial slaves of the yet unborn future Americans is selfish,and un-American .We have met the enemy and it is us. We citizens allowed even lobbied for this Socialistic government and so now we the people are the only ones who can stop it.

Anton D Rehling,

You have caught my drift.

I think the best way for America to avoid the "nasty business" is for everyone on the constructionist side to be as vocal and explanatory as possible, to teach our wayward (liberal) brethren who are still part of the productive private sector, what's going on. Those sad sack people who are being supported by taxpayers via the strong-arm of government, may be beyond hope. They have become accustomed to being self-centered and to being on the dole.

Another route to avoid the "nasty business" is for taxpayers to hasten a collapse by simply ceasing to work and get on the dole like "everyone else". This would be like a drug addict hitting rock bottom. This would wreck the private sector, defund the government spendthrifts, and really put the nation into jeopardy. But maybe something better would come out of the ashes, that is, if we're not invaded first.

It gets worse. Our "representatives" are not only representing us, domestically, down a rat hole, but it's not common knowledge that some are trying to marry us to other countries which, they say, would require that we give up our liberties. The Constitution and Bill of Rights would be cast aside. I personally, consider this political activity to be seditious, since it amounts to action steps to scuttle the Constitution, and The People aren't being consulted.

Check out the following link. Even though it ends up declaring support for Ron Paul's 2008 campaign, amidst some obnoxious background music, the bulk of it presents some facts of which I was totally unaware - scary, revolting stuff.

http://youtu.be/8_YVCDaKX3A

Any plan that is supported by the TEA Party should include a vote to amend the Constitution by reversing ratification of the 16th Amendment, & a vote on the Fair Tax in the House.

Our congress still just does not get it. Get with the program it is called the constitution and the limits it set. Nothing else will do!

Most of the people pushing the debt need to be in jail for the illegal dealings they have don't

Wayne R.

Just a question. Can we Impeach this Marxist Economic Terrorist and put him and his fellow criminals on Trial for Economic Treason? I know that impeachment cost a lot of money (but we can offset that with something called "Economic Growth" that we have not seen since 2008.)NO ONE wants to be called a Racist and SO WE DO NOTHING!(I am not anglo.)We need these Radical NUT JOBS gone so that WE can get America back on the Track to Freedom.

Turn off Obama's credit card.

Wayne R.

Turning off all of the Freebies to the Illegals and forcing them to leave the country would would be a big saving

Wayne R.

On the question to tax and spend, I think it prudent for us all to read "Rifleman's" comment above. He describes how Madison devised and included language in the Constitution to limit Congress' ability to spend, to 12 specific duties.

Has anyone considered that maybe even Madison's idea here might be flawed in a way? I mean that in order not to restrict Congress' authority too much, and in order to provide for unanticipated changes in spending requirements that could happen far into the future, Madison didn't include a balanced budget requirement. He might have actually compromised with himself on this provision, since he was always worried about the development of big government.

As has been stated, a balanced budget amendment isn't a complete cure because it doesn't actually limit spending. In fact, it could require obscene taxes subsequent to obscene spending bills.

Since the government gets its revenue from the private sector, wouldn't it be better to limit government spending to some sort of index of private sector income, like GDP or some other such measure? And then simply bar the federal government from borrowing? Then, on an annual basis, government budgets would necessarily have to flex with changing revenue each year. This is not much different from what most of the states do, and also what many American family households do as well.

Maybe I'm making this too simplistic but damn it, perhaps it should be that simple! From what I've just described, with tax revenue indexed to private sector income, that sounds essentially like a flat tax rate system with an additional borrowing prohibition requirement.

Excellent points Hamilton. The United States was a union of States for mutual protection. The purpose of "Statesmen" was to represent the views of the people of their State, with regard to matters of importance to the Union. It was not as it is now - a mission to "bring home some pork", to recover a portion of the Taxes confiscated from the people of the state. That has become a self-destructive system that breeds more spending and ever higher taxes or those that still work.

It will require some very special men and women of honor to reverse this process. The problem is not finding those people to to Washington and limit the power of the Federal governmnet to the Constitution - but rather finding enough real Americans willing to vote for them.

I fear we have reached the tipping point and if we do not return to a Union of States in 2012 - America will be lost.

Here's perhaps a dumb question for anyone to tackle, but I'll throw it out anyway.

Let's say the House was to pass a bill that cuts all the new spending initiatives plus the increased spending on existing programs, that has occurred since Obama took office. Let's then say that the bill passes the Senate and Obama actually signs it into law. Would that be enough cuts to eliminate the need to raise the debt ceiling?

If so, then this could be done in perhaps one to two days, if everyone was willing.

After all, the sole reason for our debt ceiling discussion is, and has been, decades of excessive spending.

To: M Rick Timms MD

As to your last point, that thought crosses my mind all the time, that we may have reached the tipping point where there are not enough producers in the private sector who see it clearly, that the government has endeavored to exert control over the producers by first creating and then liberalizing the standards by which the nonproducers can qualify for entitlements. Handouts beget more handouts.

This crosses my mind but I try to remain positive. But at the same time I can grasp the radical decline in quality of life here in America, that will result if we've gone the wrong way after 2012. I don't know about you but I have children to worry about.

We can all empathize and agree with family and friends who complain about our leaders (especially Obama) asking us to sacrifice on account of this debt, while our leaders never seem to cut their own salaries and benefits to join us in the sacrifice.

But simple studies show that balancing the budget can't be done simply by taxing those making over $250k and taxing corporate jet owners. Moreover, I hate to break the bad news, but getting the political class to sacrifice won't do it either.

Even though the taxpayers can be mad as hell at the largesse of the political class, and even though that largesse should indeed be reined in (they should live under the same rules and pay scale, if any, that they make for us, no perks, etc), the struggle we're facing as a nation is not a tit for tat comparison of what we have versus what they have. The overall costs of their largesse, though indeed too much, doesn't compare to all the rest of the expenditures to which government has obligated taxpayers. We're talking about the big expenses, like social security, medicare, Obamacare, the vast array of entitlement programs, government grants and loan programs - all these money suckers plus the fact that about 45% of Americans don't pay federal taxes and are sponging off taxpayers in perpetuity. Hell, I've heard it said that we could balance the budget just by eliminating ObamaCare alone, although I don't know whether or not that is true.

The overall point here, is that, as the old saying goes, "when you find yourself in a hole - stop digging!" Our government will not stop spending money. They are like a fraternity of Santa Clause's who can't stop giving gifts, except that these Santas don't have any magic to make the gifts; they're getting cash advances from taxpayers' credit cards and then blaming us for the debt!

Do I read you correctly? You are now promoting Hairy Reid Rule and for the House to give in to whatever Harry wants? Not one word or thought of protest in the entire first paragraph; reporting the House caving on every ideal so they can pass without the Constitutional super majorities a Balanced Budget amendmenet that will not pass the Senate?

No this is not time to sit back and applaud a Balanced Budget Amendment and tell the voters a GOP House majority means nothing so do not bother with fighting for the Senate or the Presidency in 2012, the only thing that matters is a BBA that will not pass the Senate?

No a thousasnd times no, the democrats have a majority in the Senate but the GOP has for one last time a House majority. If they kowtow and pray to the God of Hairy Reid they will never see one again. He controls only one House of the US Congress. He was the Senate with the left and bought and paid for Rhinos although if the House caves there will be no difference between a Senate Rhino and the US House with a GOP majority. Impeach the SOB.

I think that the president, congress should be brought up on treason. The want the American public

to tighten our belts while they keep spending and getting pay raises. Why are we spending monies we don't have to repair the sewer systems in the middle east and repairing mosques?

V/r

Steven Laroe USN ret

First, we need to be disabused the the notion that the purpose of government is to make this a better society. All those thousands of things that government does to make us better need to be eliminated immediately. I mean NEA, PBS, NIH, SAMHSA, Americorps, etc., etc. This pots government in conflict with institutions developed that build and protect liberty.

STOP THE SPENDING!! CUT TAXES!! lIMITED GOVERNMENT!!

The House needs to keep voting and sending Cut, Cap & Balance, repeal Obamacare and anything else that takes away the freedoms of this country and it's citizens.

Pass these bills and keep sending them to the Senate and continue doing it repeatedly. Stand for the oath Congress and the president took in order to serve.

It's very evident what the president and Congress is doing when they vote NO on any of these bills.

Government CANNOT take away our God given rights and freedoms. Yet they continue to do so and NO ONE is standing for the Constitution and the Rule of Law.

The president and Congress have become a joke not only to "We the People" but the rest of the world. The United States of America has been the leader of the world and our President revered by most until now.

If all in Congress and this president was interested in this country and it's citizenry and their freedoms, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

JUST SAY NO!!

I think that only taxpayers should have right to vote.We fought the Revolutoinary War because of taxation without representation.Now we have representation without taxation.It is no better.I think a more responsible government would soon be elected.It would also make more people interested in becoming a taxpayer rather than a dependant of the government.Those who choose to remain dependant on government should be happy with whatever charities they receive.

My view is this and I will keep it short. If this country is to continue as a free and prosperous one we need to follow the principles of the cut, cap, and balance idea.

1. Cap federal government spending as a percentage of GDP. 18% or less would be good.

2. A balanced budget amendment. (We need to balance the budget but we must also pay off the debt to where it is perhaps no more than ten or twenty percent of GDP).

3. Term limits for the Congress and Senate.

4. All tax revenue to the federal government should be a uniform national tax on retail sales, no gimmicks; no exceptions.

5. Privatize social security.

6. Get the federal government out of the health care business completely (except for military personnel and veterans)

7. I don't know how to accomplish this, but we need to put a stop to the steady stream of regulations that comes from Washington DC.

In order to help in reducing the size of government we should eliminate the departments of energy, education, agriculture, and commerce. There are probably others that could go but those are the ones that come to mind on short notice.

I was foolish enough to re-read Gibbon's book and I am appalled at the parallels between Rome and the present condition of our country. I'm sick of hearing "we are the greatest nation on earth" as if that gives us a free ticket to believe we cannot be added to the ash heap of history as was the Roman Empire (The GREATEST nation in history until the United States was formed). Additionally Adam Smith will be found to be not only the wisest economist but a prophet of our downfall when "The invisible hand" final corrects the market and our currency is rendered worthless due to the years of manipulation by our government (They, as the Romans can not help but add lead to the gold).

Lastly, who says that they are not totally aware of what they are doing in Washington D.C.? After those in power destroy the savings and livelihood of the American people will they not then stay in power to "fix it"? We "the people" now being totally subservient to and forced to rely on the dictorial powers of the very force that relegated us to this state of being? Are they going to suddenly admit that they destroyed this once great nation by their cavalier and capricious attitudes and hand their positions over to those that can truly govern for the people? No, they will then inherit the absolute power in which they have sought all along and we will become servile subjects, not citizens. Attempts at suppression of free speech have already begun, the 2nd amendment is being diluted, ad nausium to the rest of the "rights" we were once assured. I personnally believe that it is more than likely too late already and as Barbara Tuchman noted: "...but on history's clock it was sunset, and the sun of the old world was setting oin a dying blase of splendor never to be seen again." [The Guns of August; B. Tuchman, 1962]

Ladies and Gentleman,

Everyone speaks of cutting domestic spending but I have yet to hear not one soul address cutting or eliminating international spending hundreds of billions of U.S. tax dollars. Why is that?

Respectfully, Steven Rozell

At one time I thought a possible solution to Obamas trashing of the constitution would be impeachment.

Then I read the constitution.

The president can only be impeached by the House of Representatives.. He can then only be tried by the Senate. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court must preside over the trial. The president can only be found guilty by a vote of 60 % of those present.

Aint gonna happen considering the makeup of Congress and the Chief Justice.

I think that new leadership must be put in place in the House. We must not acquiesce to Mr. Obama's demands. The time has come to take a stand. It is now or never. The arbitrary "default" deadline (thank you Timmy Geithner) can come and go and we'll see what happens. Mr. Obama is no leader-he does not even have a plan unless it is spend, spend, and spend some more. For our and our children's future, we have to act decisively NOW. I don't see any other option.

I hope we have many people standing with us in this unnecessary crisis, but stand we must. Also, baseline budgeting must be changed so that more money does not have to be spent every year. We need real accounting rules, not political ones.

Truthfully, I am not optimistic that bloodshed can be avoided. The only possibility I see is an activist movement to monitor the voting process (which suffers from widespread corruption in favor of the left), march on and disrupt judicial usurpation, take over Republican local and state political organizations, etc.

I think that if our current crop of Congressmen and women do not have the intestinal fortitude to drastically cut spending, then they need to step down and let people who do possess it, to take their places.

Oh, and while we're at it, lets put the government out of the business of manipulation of the populace through the use of the tax code. Taxes are to provide for the legimate expenses of government, not to be used as a tool of law enforcement, not to be the sword of Damocles hanging over the head of every American and not to manipulate the populace.

Pass the fair tax and let the states collect it for both themselves and the federal government. Then we will see a resurgence of true state sovereignty and a Congress who understands that they must answer to someone if they engage in profligate spending as the states hold the purse strings.

Since we have no current limits on the Federal Government because we have no constitution that can limit the Power grabs of this administration, then we have no need to obey any of its Laws. Collectively, withhold any federal taxes until they become Legal again by a restoring of the Constitution. My money is my sweat, my money is my blood. It no longer belongs to Ceasar. Ceasar is no longer Lawful.

Cut, Cap and Balance!

I am a Senior on Social Security. This is what I say. "Cut the Crap" Shut down the Government. I don't receive a check then I am not alome. If Wall street falls, so be it. It's truly time for a change.

Please please do not raise the debt ceiling. Enough is enough.. We default, thats ok as well, I say who cares.....Someone in Washington has forgotten why they were sent there.....

I'll tell you what I think:

The only way the con-men in Congress and the Oval Office will sit up and take notice that there are real people outside the Beltway is to flood the city of Washington with, say, 10 million patriotic citizens. Fill the streets solid, pay a visit to the Capitol, and have a chat with our representatives. Stroll over to the White House and the Supreme Court, and let them know that we really are here, and that it is by our consent that they are even allowed to govern on our behalf.

Let's do this. Let's plan this. Let's organize and resolve to attend. Who can get this thing rolling?

Bring your own toilet paper.

I agree with most of the suggestions posted. Unfortunately, we have come to a point as a nation where those who are on entitlements plus those who have been brain washed by the Liberal Left now out number those who know better and have to pay for this mess. And they vote!

Because they out number us we have no chance of voting our way out of this situation. The current situation, IMHO, parallels the conditions at the time of the American Revolution with some exceptions. We are definitely paying for a lot that we have not approved of. That in my opinion is taxation without representation. You know what happened after that.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." -- Thomas Jefferson

Is it time?

I don't understand the belief that a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA)is going to to be the cure all, fix all for our debt problem.

Congress has been unable to limit itself to only the authority granted to it by the Constitution but there going to see a BBA and say 'Whoa....Look at that. This here BBA says we can't spend more than we make. We can't vote to spend money on (insert bill here) because it would put us over our budget.' Right.

CUT SPENDING. Not cut from the baseline but cut from real, actual current spending. Repeat each year until the budget is balanced. A debt limit increase should be an amount to cover only a short period(6 months to a year).

"You do not cut off your nose to spite your face."

The tea party candidates who got elected forced this discussion of the debt bomb but they don't have enough power to control, only to force the discussion. Now they need to get what they can, hold their nose and vote a debt ceiling increase and go back to their people and say, we got this far today, if you want us to get further, send more of us to the Congress so we can get the job done.

A balanced budget amendment is a two edged sword. What would we have done in 1941 if we couldn't go into federal debt to gear up and wage war?

As it stands, the roll of TP in my bathroom has more value than the Constitution. I am coming to the sad and sorry conclusion that we will need to water the tree again.

The country has far too many people who are willing to wear a collare than be free. The country has far too many politicians willing to do what ever it takes to stay in office. The country has a Communist regime in charge of the White House with willing accomplices in the House and the Senate. The country has a press and broadcast that is actively aiding and abetting thesde Communists.

I hope it doesn't come down to it, but there will either be a revolution, a civil war, and/or a mass exodus of people leaving for those places who still value freedom and respect private property.

Logic thread:

Premise 1. They are ignorant of what is transpiring within our nation and of what their actions are causing? Rejected, completely obvious as to what is transpiring within our nation.

Premise 2. They are Stupid? Rejected, numerous members of both the House and the Senate hold multiple degrees from top ranking universities, including degrees in finance and law.

Premise 3. They know exactly what they are doing and are concealing it behind a facade projected for the duping of the american people? Gee, I don't have a reply to this premise, do you?

You really need to get one of your excellent cartoonists to draw one of Obama as the Emperor Cesar fiddling, while reading a teleprompter, with Washington burning behind him.

Mark, the problem is massive, ingrained and deep. If America were a body and progressivism were cancer, radical surgery would seem to be the only option.

Now you and I know what Thomas Jefferson believed concerning the tree of liberty. But can our blood wipe out this cancer? Or is the malignancy so large that something akin to a pervasive attack, like chemotherapy be more effective?

I believe it's the latter. Our blood and the blood of a thousand other patriots would not stop this cancer.

It's in our education system. It's in our popular culture. It's in our judiciary.

48% of Americans believe that the redistribution of wealth is "fair".

On any given election day, 60-70% of registered voters in America can't be bothered to vote.

America has been "dumbed down", mesmerized by the empty headed mainstream media and network news.

We have become a nation of sheep, grateful for the grass we are allowed to graze on but deathly afraid of leaving the flock.

Most are content to live their lives this way, naively believing that as long as their boat isn't rocked everything is OK.

In reality, everything good people believe in slowly erodes away.

It is considered strange in America to say "Jesus is Lord" but not so strange to say "God is dead". There are fines in this country for destroying a bald eagle's egg but it is not a crime to destroy a child in its mother's womb.

The welfare state has made slavery legal again. While most in it don't even realize they are still slaves, their leaders lead them blindly down the path of despair and hopelessness.

A renaissance is needed in America. It has begun with the Tea Party but without much more participation from the contented middle, appeased as they are with their "bread and circuses" it will eventually fall short of its goal to renew America.

Get these middle of the roaders into the game and you have the answer. Unfortunately, until their boats are completely tipped over, it will be harm to rouse them from their reverie.

Excellent article Mark!

There's no question, no doubt whatsoever that Obama is hell bent on fundamental change, which, in reality is his way of turning the "land of Liberty" into a big Cuba.

Mark, I don't see much getting done while the Democrats control the WH and the Senate. We do need a BBA and we need to cut spending by a lot. The whole government needs to be reworked. All entitlements that are given need to be changed. I'm really worried about what's going to happen to this great country we live in and for the future generations of Americans.

A Balanced Budget Amendment is LONG overdue. It seems axiomatic that such a thing would be expected of a government--don't spend more than you make--but sometimes politicians need a gentle nudge with a hammer to remind them.

Along with a BBA should be enacted a Term Limits Amendment. We limit the tenure of the president to two consecutive terms, why not the Congress, as well? I also feel that there should be limits on the service of the justices of the supreme court. No life-time appointments.

A bumper sticker I saw says it all, "A baby's diapers and politicians should be changed often, for the same reason."

Thursday essay was very good. Yet you missed an opportunity. It has become clear that one of the tactics of the Democrats is "to repeat a lie often enough that it becomes the truth." They learned well from Lenin. Indeed with the media on their side they have turned it into an art form.

Yet if one counters and repeats the truth even more often then the truth becomes reality and not just perception. For example, since Obama's budget is discussed in the first few paragraphs that was an opportunity to repeat the truth, that it failed in the Democratically controlled Senate 97 to 0. Just as important was that it would have increased the deficit by several trillion more dollars. Those little facts are only mentioned in passing in the media and general only on one network.

While our country requires a balanced budget amendment to reign in everyone in Washington, it will not happen over night. We didn't get here just with the 2008 election. It will require perseverance which everyone should note the far left in this country have in abundance.

Your essay is correct. But a policy of overspending over decades cannot be reversed overnight. So, while I'd like to see instant and significant budget cuts (not just reductions in growth)I'd settle for a BBA done properly. Ideally the total expenditures should be linked to a percentage of US GDP, if not a fixed number. But I think what is going on in DC is just for show, because I have yet to hear of proposals to actually eliminate departments (Education, Agriculture)or other bodies (EPA, FHA.)

Obama has screwed up our economy so much it'll take a patience person to unwind it all... I have no proof mind you, but he acts like someone trained to do what he is doing, ruining America via the Marx's agenda... I'm a Goldwater Republican (My first election '64) and I hate what has happened to our Country, and it's not all the Democrat's fault, we've had our missed stepped Republicans in office... We are a republic and we need to get back to that and live or die by our Constitution & Bill of Rights... God Bless America, let's bring God back into our lives at home and on the streets of the U.S.A. ...Don D.

This reminds me of the slavery debate that gridlocked Congress for forty or fifty years. The Democrats were generally for it; the Whigs were split, with a big-party approach that ran U.S. Congressman Abe Lincoln out of office for being too radical on the subject.

But abolition could only be swept under the rug for yet another election cycle for so long. Eventually the festering boil erupted, sweeping Lincoln into the Presidency with 39% of the popular vote.

Where are we now? Every Congress sweeps the eventual default of the US Government under the rug for one more election cycle, while the national debt, like a spreading forest fire, rages more and more out of control. The Republicans want to keep placating the Democrats, but eventually a time will come when they will all either become Tea Partiers themselves, or yield their seats to those who will actually bring the debt limit back down--hopefully to Zero.

My support is for Congressman Broun of Georgia, Congresswoman Bachmann and others who want no degt ceiling increase. Boehner is groveling before Obama and Reid who will only throw his latest plan back in his face. The Democrats should be told by the House that they have seen the last proposal from them on this matter. A perfectly good plan was tabled by the Senate Democrats and can be taken up from the table. Bipartisanship by six Democrat senators would pass it and Obama would have his debt ceiling increase. He wants it with no strings attached.

The best thing the Republicans in the House could do is ... recess and go to the beach. Let them all lie back in their lawn chairs, put their hands behind their heads and gaze at the sky or the ocean through their sunglasses (well, perhaps the House Majority Leader can grill something for dinner). Do this every day until the present appropriations expire, then when Mr. Obama and the Senate come and ask for renewed appropriations, the response should be, "No, not until you tell us which programs you are willing to cut or eliminate to match spending to present revenue minus $700 billion in debt principal payment. Until then, you can send out Social Security and pension checks, but not a whole lot more than that. Oh, by the way, Mr. President, just in case you were thinking of doing something on your own, don't forget that misappropriation of funds does 'rise to the level of impeachment'."

Tell your Congressman you want him to enjoy the House Beach Party!

we MUST STOP spending NOW what we don't have - live on what we take in - ss, medicare some medicade, vets, current military which we take in enough each month to do just that = now then, if we would cut the WASTE from these programs we would be able to pay on the debt if nothing else WE MUST GET RID OF ARROGANT BULLY PANTYWAIST THEIF FIRST--NOW-- & maybe we could make some headway oh yes - freeze or reduce ALL federal payrolls ALL god bless america

Judy Wilson wrote, "All of your words are good but you forgot one thing the Seniors that depend on their Social Security every month because that is all the income they have. When ever there is a problem in Washington the middle class ends up getting screwed. So now I think it is time for the Millionaires to pay their fair share. Quit fighting like children and get the debt cieling (sic) raised so the American people will not worry if they eat, have lights, water and a phone."

Ma'am, please think beyond yourself. The debt ceiling is the equivalent of the credit limit on your personal borrowing. The United States is maxed out. The national debt is presently 98% of the entire nation's income for a year. If is divided up equally amongst our citizens, your share is as of this writing $176,168. For most of us, this is the equivalent of owing a second mortgage on the house. There is is no way we can pay this off in our time unless we make drastic cuts in federal spending. To do otherwise is simply immoral. Either we stiff our creditors through default or inflation, or we pass the debt on to your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Are you willing to condemn your descendants to slavishly high taxes with no personal benefit so Mr. Obama can buy some more limousines (he has nearly quadrupled the number owned by the government under the Bush administration)?

By the way, failure to raise the debt ceiling will not mean your Social Security check will stop. Mr. Obama's statement to that effect is a mean-spirited, lying threat with no basis in law. (Although there is no Social Security trust fund with money in it, the law more or less requires that the Social Security Administration has first dibs on tax receipts after other debt service is paid.) The United States receives enough revenue in taxes to cover Social Security, Medicare, Defense, debt service and federal pensions. It doesn't have much money to cover anything else, so the real problem is the unwillingness of Mr. Obama and the Senate to accept this reality. They are trying to bamboozle the country into letting them continue to steal from other nations which use the dollar as their currency, our descendants and our creditors.

So, bottom line: stopping the borrowing has little or nothing to do with your personal utility bills. It does have a lot to do with the freedom and financial security of the younger members of your family.

It is amazing that 49 of 50 states have the wisdom to control spending using a Balanced Budget law, but no one in Washington seems to see any value to it. ironically, most of the 535 "so-called" representatives of THE PEOPLE are placed in office by the very people living in the states that DO see the value of a balanced budget requirement. That indicates a serious disconnect between these PUBLIC EMPLOYEES and THEIR EMPLOYERS. Could 2012 be the time to reevaluate the qualifications of those in whom the public trust has been invested? I say "YES, even HELL YES!!!"

I believe anyone who reads the Declaration of Independence and substitutes our government for the British knows what is required. The Congress will not heed peaceful protests. They meet in the dead of night, behind closed doors. They conspire against the Constitution and the nation to grasp power more securely and to enrich themselves and their supporters.

We need to water the tree of liberty. The time for discussion is past.

When we are robbed or mugged, we call the police. But who are we to call when our elected officials are violating our Constitution? Why is there no requirement for all existing federal agencies, and all future agencies, yet-to-be-proposed by Congress,to justify their existence on the basis of a clear Constitutional mandate? The 10th Amendment of the Constitution states that "The powers NOT delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." So why is there a Federal Department of Education, an Environmental Protection Agency, Federal fuel economy standards, Social Security, Medicare, etc., etc? When will the American people stand up and say, "Enough is enough!" I'm ready. Are you?

STOP SPENDING MONEY WE DO NOT HAVE!!!!

All this budget cut talk is bogus.

NO ONE IS MENTIONING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING STANDARD "BASE LINE BUDGETING"

A cut in the amount of growth is not a cut.

All the best.

Don Schulte

Mark Alexander once wrote something similar to:

If the framers of the Constitution were alive today, what would we smell over the Potomac?

BURNT POWDER

None of these idiots get it. How can we pay down the DEBT when we continue to borrow money, creating a DEFICIT, to operate the country?

CUT THE SPENDING TO THE BONE NOW~!

There is restlessness in the hustings.

Look at Greece - socialism broke the bank.

Look at the U.S.A. - socialism is near to breaking our bank.

Greeks are expressing their discontent by rioting, throwing stones, Molatov coctails and trashcans.

Americans have set records, according to the ATF, of gun ownership since our socialistic administration took power.

If American discontent continues to grow, we'd better worry about the methods and the tools they will use to express that discontent with our socialistic government.

Correct me if I am wrong, but when I was taking Civics in High School, although a very long time ago, it seems to me that the only division of Congress that can regulate the money is that it has to be introduced by the House of Representatives. So how is it that Harry Reid and his band of Misfit Senators think that they can enter their version of a bill first? I may be just an old Marine that has worked all his life and took an oath @ 18 to protect and defend the United States. Now as I get older I see that most of the enemies we have are the ones we created. They are the ones that would tear down the greatest nation on earth that has stood the test of time for the form of government that we have, almost every country in the world that is a democratic society has modeled theirs after ours. Yet the same people that we have elected over the years have let groups like the ALCU and such ilk twist and turn the meanings of the most spectacular document in history to where it is just a shell of what it was. America needs to get back to the basics. We have already shown the world how great a nation we are, else why would so many people want to come here to study at our colleges, universities, medical schools, etc., then take back to their own countries the knowledge to help them grow on their own. But now instead of going back to their countries with the knowledge now the come here for the free handouts that we are offering at the expense of the working class people of America. God has been good to this nation and it stems from the fact that we have relations with the State of Israel. If we ever stop having relations with Israel, God will turn His back on this great nation, some would argue that He already has. Stop spending Future money that we don't have yet. Let's go with an across the board tax for all. Let's let Congress use the same doctors and health plans that we do. In our jobs, if we leave before the retirement date, then we usually don't get anything else from the company we worked for. Congress shouldn't have Lifetime Benefits just for serving one term of office. They wouldn't think of cutting their pay but yet they want to take away ours and our freedoms because we are so stupid we can't let each state govern itself the way that it should be. I know I have been rambling but the points are in there folks. Mark, please keep publishing this wonderful advocacy of Essential Liberty. You do an outstanding job of keeping us informed. Thank you for your time and letting me ramble.

I am continually appalled by the fact that the US Government borrows money from the likes of China! It reinforces the fact that the confiscatory taxes collected by our government are simply not enough to fund all the extra-Constitutional programs that Congress continues to create.

It wasn't that long ago that a report was published showing the massive duplication and overlap between federal programs: get the scalpel out and start here. I think it is fair to say that many of those redundant programs are aimed at the "poor, downtrodden and disenfranchised persons" that constitute the Demoncats constituency. It will be a battle, but it's one that needs to be joined.

Then, let's remove all czars who have been appointed by this President - they are nothing more than overhead.

If Republicans are truly serious about reducing government, let's begin the wholesale slaughter of some of the sacred cows like the NEA, NPR, the EPA and the Department of Education. Oh, and don't forget the National Labor Relations Board, that anti-free enterprise board. Unemployment may increase in the short run, but they'll eventually find work as pundits at CNN and MSNBC.

Let's eliminate foreign aid except to countries who are solid allies, like Israel. That should save us a few shekels as well.

Once the cuts are complete, the IRS and the progressive income tax that allows the Democrats to use wealth-producers as whipping boys for their downtrodden constituencies must go. Establish a flat rate consumption tax on all goods and services (less food) so that everyone pays tax on what he or she uses, not on what he or she earns. Those who earn more typically buy more and buy more high end products so they will naturally pay more tax. The citizen will literally be more in control of what he pays in taxes, at least to some extent. No loopholes, no deductions.

Sit back and watch the revenue flow. Sit back and watch employers produce, thrive, grow and hire. Watch America re-established as the world's pre-eminent power.

And to my previous comment I must add, as one of the initial cuts that must be undertaken: REPEAL OBAMACARE!

Alexander

As a retired history teacher I can tell you that you are correct on every thing you have stated in this post. I have been engaged with a variety of writers including our Founders and find myself learning more and more every day. I want to leave this land a better and thriving nation for my 4 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Continue you great work.

The time for a BBA has been long overdue. The dumbocrat left fears that concept for exactly the reason stated by so many; it would effectively sever them from the money. Their power over us would dissipate like a fog in the sun. This is exactly what I pray for. I studied the Soviet system extensively during my time in the US Army and Officer Candidate School.

What I see is obama's plan to effectively recreate a working model of the 1930s Soviet Union here. It is underway. I remember too well his campaign statement "under my plan, energy prices would necessarily skyrocket" Motor fuel prices have risen over 104%. The so-called middle class, which I believe obama has targeted for destruction, is so strapped, that many now cannot do anything other than go to work, go home and prepare to go back to work. That is, if they even HAVE a job to go to.

I was furloughed by my company, Viking Yacht Company, the DAY AFTER OBAMA'S ELECTION. One of the reasons given? "The new president isn't a friend of the marine industry". My response? " The new president isn't a friend of ANY industry", and he isn't.

I could say so much more. I now have my own small business, because the likelihood of a 65 yr old man getting any job is nil.

I grieve for the country I once so proudly served in the US Army, including Infantry service in Viet Nam. By the way, I was separated from the service, involuntarily, in 1972 THANKS TO DEFENSE BUDGET CUTS SPONSORED BY THE LIKES OF TED KENNEDY AND HIS ILK. Suffice it to say, I DETEST the "liberal left" and their despicable view for this country. I remain, Philip Topps, CPT, Inf (Forcibly Ret), twice!

Call me a pessimist. I believe we have already passed that difficult-to-quantify point of no return. Congress and the President continue partisan bickering, even while facing the threat of a downgraded credit rating. Don't suggest to me that such a group of gutless and corrupt pols would move to defund NEA, EPA, and departments such as the Dept. of Education. More and more, I hear friends and acquaintances say they are getting ready for self-determination, self-protection; from getting off the grid to stockpiling ammo for non-registered personal weapons, a growing number of us are preparing for ... an unknown future. Perhaps, revolution?

GO FOR THE PENNY PLAN! 1% EACH YEAR FOR 6 YEARS!

How do We the People restore the Rule of Law? The only peaceful way that I can envision at this juncture is to elect a bullet proof Conservative President and majorities in both Houses of Congress who will, without hesitation, dismantle the illegal federal Police State that we now have, along with every illegal government agency that demands our money.

Without that illegitimate support the States will fold under the pressure of local rebellions to reform their laws. Those States who have already listened to their legitimate citizens have little to fear, but States that have enslaved their populations already, will reap the reward that they richly deserve.

The only other option is a national rebellion against the current illegitimate ("extra-constitutional") government of The United States. (Before you call me a nut, or lunatic, I ask you to seriously consider whether or not the current "government" is Constitutional in structure or practice.) It is clearly unable to perform the Constitutional duties that have been delegated to it by the Constitution.

I do have one pertinent question based on the following quote;

In Federalist No. 45, Madison declared, "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce. ... The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives and liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State."

Would you say that Madison was of the opinion that a Communist form of Government within a State is acceptable and under "State's Rights" while still conducive to the object of the United States that we are forming a more perfect Union?

The Fed Gov't has gone too far off course to be corrected under the current political system. If the Tea Party movement does not restore Constitutional Rule of Law in the next two election cycles, then the only fix is another revolution. That tree of Liberty will have to be refreshed.

Sir: Under what condition,according to our Constitution is an armed revolt by and for our citizens legal?

The Freedom of Speech is now hampered by various U.S. National Security laws that makes my very question illegal.

As a Patriot, retired military person, disabled combat veteran and concerned citizen I am almost convinced that the votes at the polls are not as effective as they were meant to be. For Example: there still has been no action taken on the Panthers who intimidated potential white voters with baseball clubs and therefore too afraid to vote. No police reacted to the fraud perpetuated at that particular voting place.

Please clarify to me when my Oath to Protect the Constitution against all enemies foreign AND domestic kicks in.

I think the America that I knew as a child is gone. I am very unhappy, and feel as if I have lost a great deal of freedom.

Thank you Mr. Alexander; praise the LORD God for people like you!

The problem with our government today is the fact that the "law society" has taken over. The lawyers should be in the judiciary, not the legislature. Our founding fathers warned us about them. The constitutions original 13th amendment did not allow anyone with ties to the crown of England to hold an office of trust. All lawyers belong to the BAR (a private corporation), which is the British Accredited Registry, (or Regency). What do lawyers do? Figure out any way they can to create another law. We now have over 60 million statutes, codes, etc. It's insanity and is clearly meant to confuse and confiscate wealth. We are 'lawed" to death! Every law is meant to generate more money for the beast.The only ones we need are the 10 commandments. We need to shut down the federal government, bring the issuance of money back to the states and stop funding the beast. They have created a monster that is too big to be put back in it's cage, and the only solution is to kill it.

The federal government was never meant to rule the country, but the greedy and elitist politicians have assumed that is what they have the right to do, based on their Constitution. DC has it's own constitution and changed the words. Organic Act of 1871. The peoples has been set aside. because our government is really a corporation out of control run by the banking industry and paying kickbacks to shut them up so they can rape and pillage our nation and confiscate the wealth of America. The peoples rights come from the Declaration of Independence. Read it. It says when the government fails to protect our UNALIENABLE rights to life, LIBERTY and pursuit of happiness, it is our DUTY to change it. Time for REAL change to benefit the PEOPLE, and NOT the corporate, judicial, and elites.,Don't send us the bills for their corrupt subjugation of our rights.

Mr. Alexander, you certainly know how to run a line of bull. And, I'm sure this comment will never see the light of day, but, I'll tell you what I think, anyway. How do you figure sending out 80 million checks to disabled veterans (Who have fought and died so you can write your little piece. Sit down in your nice home and have a good meal with your family and not worry about where the next ones coming from.), disabled and retired social security, and do I dare say it - coneheaded retired politians, is unlawful spending?

I'm sure that you have a nice 6 figure salary, so, I understand why you are putting down Social Security, Federal Housing Administration, Home Owner's Loan Corporation and The Tennessee Valley Authority, they are ALL in one way or another here to help the working class and poor people.

This is what has me puzzled, just a bit. The rich people should grow a brain and stop complaining so much. America was made on the backs of poor people and if it wasn't for us, there wouldn't have been a silver spoon to be handed down, or a seat for daddy to leave for Jr. July 31, 2011 FEB

Actually Woodrow Wilson was just as bad if not worse than FDR. Woodrow signed off on the Federal Reserve Act, involved us in WW1, enacted extreme liberty restrictions as part of the war, and laid the foundation for FDR. Check out Jonah Goldberg's book "Liberal Fascism" for more about turn of the 20th century political history. I also highly recommend watching US/world history in video from a money perspective. It differs greatly from the standard history books! Check out "The Money Masters" on youtube.

Tighten the belts now, bite the bullet now, get this thing controlled now. Vote the non compliance people out, get new ones, if they can't do it vote them out and try try again. At the same time we as American MUST also tighten our belts and get out of debt too. Live within our means, be creative and learn to be more self sufficient. We should not nor cannot afford to mirror the federal governments proclivity to spend, spend, spend.

Excellent, I taught U.S. History for 36 years in high school and spent a great deal of time trying to get the basics of the Constitution across. It is a great travesty that it has been virtually ignored and subverted by the Progressives.

It is becoming more and more obvious that the budget 'crisis' is an end-run ploy in that when the cuts do come it will be military/defense cuts that will take the brunt of the budget cuts. This will appease Obama's muslim connections and undercut America's defense. He is on cue and dancing to our demise and he knows it.

"It's the CONSTITUTION, stupid." Tea Party folks just need to keep this in front of all the arguments made. We got into this mess because our CONSTITUTION (The Supreme Law of the Land) has been trashed by dems and republicans alike. GET BACK TO THE CONSTITUTION!

As a survivor of undsciplined spending in my own financial life, i finally realized that if you only have 410 you are asking for a very painful lesson in economics if you spend $11. maybe i'm just a simple mindesd man, but shouldn't graduates of our most prestigious educational systems in America, be aware of this fact of economics. i find this especially troblesome since i am the one who has to make up that $1 difference that i never PERSONALLY authorized in the first place.

I am frustrated! I have always been an advocate of a smaller government, but instead of reducing the numbers, they just keep increasing.

Each time "THEY" want more, they always talk about cutting entitlements. I was born in 1949 and contracted Polio at 3-1/2 months old. I fought to be normal and worked wearing leg braces (unlike Forrest Gump, I never ran out of mine) since I was 15 years old. I enjoyed 38 years in the HVAC trade.

Although I never knew why (in the beginning) but I began losing my strength. After a couple of years I was diagnosed as having Post-Polio-Syndrome. I was NOT going to ask for government assistance.

I started a handicapped scooter business that failed after 7 years. Then I started a lawn & snow removal service. My body continued to get weaker.

When I could no longer walk or drive, I finally filed for a disability claim. I was accepted, but since I had not paid SS for a decade, I was granted the minimum...$505.50 a month!

Totally dismayed, I started doing the math AFTER I began my career in HVAC. I had paid into the fund, $850,000. So after paying into SS $850k, I get $505.50 a month?

I AM ENTITLED (and for a lot more than the minimum).

-Balance the budget

-Reduce the size and scope of government

-Reduce/Eliminate entitlements

-Make all health insurance payments deductible

-Disengage health insurance from employment

-Allow people to buy and sell health insurance across state lines

-People should pay their own medical bills

In my opinion, we need to broaden the tax base and lower the tax rates to a single rate. Everyone who is capable of working should be able to find some employment. Even if it is picking up trash along the highways or picking produce in fields. If Corporate tax rates were lowered to say 20% for every dollar of profit, business would have an incentive to stay in this country. All profits, wherever earned, should be taxed at this low rate encouraging business to stay in the USA.

have a balanced budget regardless of who don't want it, or else force persons not agreeing, forced to resign or get fired. all politicians have to be partisan or leave, all monies above 1000 dollars have to be approved by the people, for any reason whatsoever. no more stipends without a vote. no more giveaways to any country without a vote. resign from the u.n. now vote on the iraq and afganistan war now, and bring all our troops home. noone except the people to decide if we should stay and slaughter out troops, not some boneheade war monger of any sort. bin laden and hussein are gone. end the war.send all illegals to afganistan and iraq, for a minimum of 2 y. no welfare, food stamps, medical for any illegals..period

Make cuts now. Everyone needs to tighten their belts. Balanced Budget Amendment. Flat tax, same rate for everyone, no more loopholes.

Harry Reid personifies what is wrong with, at least, the Senate. His tenure is FAR too long to have spent in a public office. Yes, he was reelected, but it was a purchased election through the payola offered by his support of ongoing income redistribution. Until we impose limits on terms for these lifelong politicians, Democrats and Republicans included, we will continue these dynasties, this American "royalty."

This is a great piece of history and research to shine the light on where we really are as a country. I, like many others, fear that the country we grew up in no longer exists - because of career politicians who will do anything (& everything) necessary to continue to be re-elected... even if it means being dishonest - which obviously many are! They will break any rule, because they are not held accountable for it & do not have to participate in the same programs they vote for us, the peon-class (though sometimes it feels more like the "pee-ed on" class). They have created a "club" for themselves to take care of themselves - at our expense. And for a long time, we the voting public didn't pay attention to their back-handed dealings & closed-door deals. We just kept electing the same ones over & over & over. Therefore they became an Entitlement Club of their own making with an Entitlement mentality & an attitude of superiority. They don't mind taking OUR hard-earned cash to give to others because they do not have to participate in the pain of lost revenue.

In the most recent election campaigns, I heard several politicians spout rhetoric about term limits, but since the election there has been nothing mentioned. Have these newly elected now fallen prey to & joined the same Entitlement Club they swore to abolish? The "Tea-Party" elected members are now being bashed horribly by the (so-called) "media". Will they now succomb to the intimidation & attacks by falling in with the others to stop the attacks?

I feel very frustrated because I don't know what I, as a patriotic American, can do to stop the "blood-letting." Don't get me wrong - I care about people who are down on their luck & are trying to dig out of a hole. And I am not opposed to helping Seniors who are on limited budgets and need help with medicals. They have paid into the system & deserve to get some help. However - welfare should come with time-limits and drug testing. I AM opposed to taking care of the "gimme-mine" society we have created with our unlimited hand-outs & the mega-crowds that thinks we owe them a living while they sit back, do nothing and take in. I am FOR term limits; FOR a balanced budget; FOR removing illegals from taking ANYTHING from what they did not put into; FOR repealing the Obama-care nightmare; FOR bringing home our troops. If we would quit paying our hard-earned money to take care of other countries who hate us we would have more than enough to pay all our debts.

Regarding the national debt and entitlement programs contributing thereto, Social Security (and other federal retirement programs) should be targeted first for "fixing," since the costs are known costs (unlike Medicare and Medicaid). My suggestion for fixing SS (with extension to federal retirement plans, e.g., retired military and government civilian), is to simply FREEZE all payments at their currenet levels, NEVER to be raised again. What we're getting now, is what we'll be getting the day we die. No more COLA raises. If that doesn't balance the books, then raise the SS tax on everyone. It's basically that simple. Peanut-butter-spread the pain, and that plan might actually be accepted.

Dan Purdy

USAF Retiree, Age 52

Dan Purdy, I'd agree with your plan to freeze different retired pays only with the stipulation that to make up for the pain of lost buying power all active civilian government pay be reduce by twice the amount of inflation with the exception of politicians. Theirs I'd reduce by four times the inflation rate. Remember, inflation is a hidden tax created by government.

A disable USAF retiree who has had every promise made to him if he made it to retirement broken.

Perhaps another Civil War is in the making. But maybe we should start by surrounding the halls of Congress and the White House with millions of well-arms militia, demand the resignation of all thos who have not defended the constitution as written, hang the imposter posing as president and all those that supported his presidency since he has no legal right to that honored position and lastly kick out the whole of the United Nations and disavow ourselves of its doings.