Adding trillions of dollars to our debt is irresponsible. It is claimed that our Gross Domestic Product can withstand this with the taxes incurred from the purchase of goods and services which make up the roughly twenty-one trillion dollar economy that we have.
The problem is that we already have trillions of dollars of debt which are being serviced by our economy. One cannot borrow oneself rich and adding to the debt will only cost more money. The problem is that the world depends on U.S. solvency and jeopardizing that will cause some countries to look elsewhere for a worldwide currency. This has been tried before and has been turned down, but the closer the U.S. comes to insolvency, the better another world currency would look.
Some countries are flirting with crypto currencies. These are a long way off from taking over the world currency position as they are all too volatile and based on even less than the currencies of the world are today.
The bottom line is that we need a fiscally responsible person at the helm, not someone who is willing to spend more money than generations can pay for to basically make a name for himself in the history books.
There are some governmental programs which must be paid for using taxes. The overreach of government to pay for everything is not sustainable. People must be responsible for their welfare. This can be by saving money for the time that a job is lost or large expenses arise due to unforeseen circumstances. This can be by taking out insurance policies which cover assets as well as health. This can be by paying for a secondary education which will pay for itself and the aforementioned items as well as a retirement. This can be by taking a job as an apprentice which will lead to a permanent job that will supply needed funds for everyday life and allow for a retirement package of some sort. This can be by living within the means available and exercising frugality.
The economy exists and expands by consumers purchasing goods and services. That cannot continue when the well-paying jobs are going offshore to less expensive locations. Encouraging businesses to bring back jobs and keep jobs inside the country would help people get those jobs which make it possible for them to have excess money to spend on goods and services, thereby keeping the economy flowing at a sustainable rate.
Methods of paying down the Federal Government’s debt include taxes and duties. Higher taxes on large businesses have driven some offshore because the labor costs were higher in this country than the locations where they now have their labor force. This makes the tax burden somewhat easier because of the lower cost to produce the product or service, but it exacerbates the strain on the economy as higher paying jobs disappear and lower paying jobs take their place. Duties on imports and exports will give the Federal Government more money, but will ultimately add to the cost of the goods or services which U. S. consumers purchase. A lower Federal Tax would offset some of the increased cost. The duties and import/export taxes would make those items more expensive and perhaps would make the offshore cheaper labor costs less effective, thereby allowing businesses to maintain a labor force here in the U. S.
When politicians don’t like a particular law or government system, they say that it is broken. Our immigration system is broken, our tax laws are broken, voting is broken, and any number of current policies are broken. In fact, most of these so called broken laws, systems, and policies have been working for decades. It’s when some politicians don’t like what the law, system, or policy says that it becomes broken. And that politician is the only person who can ‘fix’ the broken law, system, or policy. Is that supposed to guarantee votes? People need to take a look at those who say that everything is broken and see what really is going on. Those who are elected are required to abide by the laws, policies, and, work within the systems, not try to change them to meet their ideas of what is necessary to keep themselves in office. This usually involves some giveaway scheme of the politician’s current get-votes policy. Honesty and governmental frugality are more helpful to voters than spending more money than voters can pay for. These are all too frequently for policies that voters can pay, and have paid, for themselves. Adding to the debt of the country by having the government pay for these items is a good plan for disaster.
Medicine has always been an expense, but not always an expense that couldn’t be covered by insurance policies. There are many procedures which have come down in price. But, there are also some which have gone up. Government interference into costs will only make it more expensive for the government and, by extension as taxpayers, the voters and taxpayers of the country. If you look at the medical plans of other countries, you will find that the government-run plans are not as well tax-funded as they once were and costs are rising to the point that charges are being passed on to the people of those countries. Even the higher taxes that those people have paid are not enough to keep them going. Also, the visits to the doctor are usually limited to ten to fifteen minutes. There is not enough time to discuss other ailments with the doctor as the next patient is waiting and must be on time. Any other ailment requires another appointment scheduled at the next available date. In the U. S. one can wait longer than anticipated to see a doctor because the previous patient discussed the ailment which the appointment was scheduled for and any other concerns which arose during the appointment. Government requirements for tests and paperwork have made some procedures costly to the point of the doctor or hospital not making money on that particular procedure. All necessary tests should be performed, but not overdone to the point of financial loss. A second opinion is less costly than an array of tests which might confirm each other or be a waste of time and money. Some other countries with national healthcare systems have doctors who opt out of that and only take privately paying patients. The national healthcare payment is not enough to cover the costs of the doctor, so the privately paying patients will pay more to get in sooner and thereby more than cover the doctors’ costs. It is well known that scheduling an appointment for any procedure is usually done months in advance for the national healthcare patient, but can be done in a number of days or weeks if the patient is privately paying. Hospitals had insured patients as well as patients who were under-insured or not insured at all. The money that the hospitals took in covered all cases. As cities and hospitals became income producers, the costs went up and cases which would not be covered by insurance were turned away. Likewise, sanitoriums were emptied because they were a cost, not an income producer. This was a start to the homeless scourge that we have today.
Part of having money to spend is not spending all of the money that you have. There are many programs which the government spends money on which can be cut back or passed onto the private sector for a more efficient operation. Maintaining those programs and adding more to the mix is an ever expanding cost which at some point will not be able to be paid off.
Taking money from the rich to redistribute to the poor never works. Those who are rich are so because of the work they have done. Those who are poor are so because they do not have high enough paying jobs to pay for their needs and desires. There are those who have lost their income due to something beyond their control. This will lead to poverty until a new job is procured which will pay for the expenses extant. This all makes sense, but doesn’t explain why there are so many poorer people than before. The vast majority of people can afford their lifestyle. Only the exceptions are featured on the news because it isn’t news to be able to afford what you need and want. The rich are always featured because everyone would like to be rich and it therefore seems to be interesting to see how the rich spend their money. But taking all of the money from the rich and giving it to either all of the poor or the government will not solve the problems which lead to rich people and poor people. Taxing rich people more and more will only drive them to another, less tax costly, country or island that they have purchased. Money will be sent to foreign locales to evade local taxes. Even if all of the rich peoples’ money were taken, it would not pay off the debt that Congress is adding to our backs. Printing more money will not help either. It will make the dollar less valuable and degrade the taxpayers’ buying power. Better paying jobs will help the poorer people make enough money to pay for what they need and want. Introductory level jobs are not meant to be lifetime jobs that will pay for what a family needs and wants. Those jobs are for those entering the job market for some money and the experience of working, so that a better job can be had. Raising the minimum wage will only make goods and services more expensive and the increased minimum wage will not be sufficient in a short while to cover the vicious cycle of increased costs of goods and services.
Should the U. S. be the policeman of the world? Well, would you rather have China or Russia taking on that role? They are more than happy to spread their influence and rule around the globe. Sometimes, you have to do the right thing and that does mean making sure that everyone has a fair chance to vote, say what he thinks, and live his life in a manner in which he is comfortable and within the confines of law. Spending money on other countries seems like a waste of our tax dollars, but if it influences those governments to do the right thing, it is money well spent. Our presence in parts of the world mean that we are engaged with that part of the world and gives stability to that part of the world. There are enough bad actors on this planet as it is, we should be dealing with them and getting them to act in an upstanding manner, not adding to both their egos and bank accounts at the expense of everyone else. Doing that can take finances as well as diplomacy.