Save and Conquer

I was not really a fan of Ross Perot for President back in the 90’s, but he does have his pragmatic side. He won 20% of the vote back in 1992 because he was not afraid to tell the truth about the Federal budget and our deficit. Even though he didn’t really have a prayer of winning, he managed to get a lot of the public discourse focused on the budget.

He is working once again to push the election dialog toward the economy and the National Debt. I applaud him for that. I agree that our government’s current rate of spending is not sustainable. As I wrote in Social Security?, the entitlement programs of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are headed for bankruptcy if nothing is done. The presentation on Perot’s new web site, perotcharts.com, does a slick job of showing the budget disaster we are headed for. It offers the following five options for avoiding bankruptcy of the entitlement programs

1. Restructure existing entitlement programs
2. Raise payroll taxes and/or income taxes
3. Borrow more money each year to make up the shortfall
4. Cut discretionary spending even further
5. Enhance economic growth

I am betting that the politicians are going to continue to pay the most lip service to option number 5, but all five need to happen to avoid the following consequences as spelled out on perotcharts.com:

Over time, our standard of living, our national security, our standing in the world and the value of our currency could all be threatened.

These problems worsen each year as we stand by and do nothing. The sooner we confront these issues, the better.

I hope our national leaders are paying attention. I am.

Stumble it!