Posted on 05/29/2010 4:19:47 PM PDT by sten
over the passed couple of years, i have become more and more worried about the state of our country. in particular, the size of the debt and the speed at which it has been increasing. and that speed has been increasing most recently with no end in sight. if this continues, as it did with the USSR, there is no doubt the country will cease to exist in its current form.
here are the basic facts as of 2009:
gross domestic product: $14,000 b
national debt as of today: $13,000 b
annual federal receipts: $2,105 b
congressional budget: $3,518 b
these numbers are out of whack. the budget of the US exceeds all monies brought in by $1,413b or 167% of all receipts. this would be similar to making $50k/yr and spending $84k on your credit cards... which are already at $40k.
to fix this situation, congress and the federal government needs to be reigned in. unfortunately, there are NO controls that currently exist within the framework of the Constitution to restrain congress from committing financial suicide.
as such, i would propose the following amendment to the US Constitution in order to save the country and insure its future.
| "During years where the national debt exceeds 25% of the GDP, the budget of the Congress shall be restricted to no more than 75% of federal receipts brought in the year before. The remaining 25% shall go to repay the national debt in an effort to reduce the debt below 10% of the GDP. During years when the debt exceeds 5% of the GDP, but is less than 25%, the budget of the Congress shall be restricted to no more than 85% of the federal receipts. At no time shall the budget of the Congress exceed 125% of the federal receipts." |
if this amendment were in place today, the congressional budget would be forced to stay within $1,579 b, while paying off the debt @ $526 b per year. this would continue until the debt reached $3,500 b, which would take about 18 years. at that point, the federal budget would be allowed to grow from 75 to 85% of the federal receipts, which would be $1,789 b, while paying $316 b to the remaining debt. it would take roughly 9 years until the debt is reduced to $700 b, or 5% of the GDP. once that occurs, Congress would be able to increase their budget to no more than $2,630 b on receipts of $2,105b, or 125% of all federal receipts. in roughly 27 years the country will have climbed out of the hole.
i believe this plan would resolve the impending financial crisis, reassure our debtors that we are serious about repaying the debt, while also insuring we never return to such a situation.
Should another global conflict occur, you'd have to allow for whatever it costs to keep the country independent.
I see them using it to raise taxes to confiscatory levels.
What do they want? BRD ?
Do you realize how much federal spending is “off-budget”?
Do you realize that mandating the states to spend money would happen under those rules?
A BRD pipeline straight to DC
taxes and how they are apportioned also needs to be addressed as having 1 in 10 pay for everything is a sure fire way to start a revolt.
one step at a time.
I think it is too late to turn back. You’ll probably see the bankers get some sort of global governance to save their skins. Expect to hear “The world is too big to fail.” as a global government of the bankers’ selections, by the bankers’ decree, and for the bankers takes effect. They built the house of cards that has allowed the current mess. They’ll do whatever they can to push off the day of reckoning that will come when their system crumbles.
Even if your amendment passed, do you think congress would abide by it? Congress is criminal and out of control.
if it helps shift some power back to the states, that would be a good thing.
reigning them in is the point.
please help by suggesting updates / tweaks
I also have a Constitutional Amendment proposal:
The federal government shall expend all revenues raised on the Constitutional duties of the federal government and no other entity, institution, persons or organization.
No more welfare, no more subsidies, no more giving grant money to leftwing groups like ACORN, Planned Parenthood, NPR, PBS etc etc.
The states won’t get more power, they will get federal mandates.
Do you really expect this to pass both houses of Congress by two-thirds majorities? There is no way Congress will limit their ability to drive us into insolvency.
How about “Congress shall make no law.”?
agreed. so... the amendment needs teeth to force congress to abide by it?
Supposedly, those people take an oath of office which, if broken, is supposed to have some sort of penalty.
It probably would not make any difference.
if something like this doesn’t pass... there will be a revolt by the citizens of the country (which i believe they want) and would result in tearing the country apart (another thing the progressives want)
tweak the language... help mold it.
The only solution is to cut federal activities which are not allowed by the constitution and elect a majority of responsible people. Up hill fight.
I don’t want the idiots in DC from either side of the aisle to do anything more than abide by the constitution.
so there needs to be some form of citizen recall capability if Congress is in violation of spending more than Constitutionally allowed... something that would be black & white @ the end of the year by a financial oversight committee (not run by congress)
i’d be good with that
so how do we keep them in check? they do what they want, which many times is not under their Constitutional powers.
limiting their funding under threat of recall isn’t too bad. it’d keep them from funding programs that are wasteful
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