Probably Going to Get Beaten Up Over This One

I'm making this post mostly because my wife dared me to do so. We were talking politics and the economy and the deficit, and she said, "NOBODY is going to like what you're saying. I DARE you to write about it on your blog."

So here goes...

I am so SICK of everyone, both Democrats and Republicans, ignoring the deficit. And I don't mean ignoring it in their words--politicians, especially the Republicans of late--TALK about it all of the time. I'm sick of politicians not DOING anything about it.

Republicans say that the Obama administration is responsible for the deficit, and that we ought to do something about it by cutting spending, but then they talk about the necessity of coupling that with tax cuts. Tax cuts INCREASE the deficit--they don't reduce it. And in the end, the Republicans, in order to get elected, will offer tax cuts that are greater than the spending cuts they want to make. When all is said and done, the Republicans are going to INCREASE the deficit.

And Democrats are no better. They want to increase taxes, but not in order to cut the deficit. They want to increase taxes so that they can increase spending programs like the health insurance program. And in the end, the Democrats, in order to get elected, will offer spending programs that are greater than the tax increases they want to make. When all is said and done, the Democrats are going to INCREASE the deficit as well.

You want to know the kind of politician I would vote for? The guy who had the courage to come forward and say, "My party [whichever party that is] is only half right. I say we have to decrease spending AND increase taxes. That's the only responsible action to take if we want to lower the deficit. It will mean less in our pockets AND fewer services from the government, but hey! It's what we have to do. It's a shared sacrifice we'll have to make, the same shared sacrifices that President Bush mentioned in the days just after September 11, 2001. We've put off those sacrifices for more than nine years now, but now we have to make them."

That's the guy that I'd vote for!

But I think I'd be the only one...