The Real Inconvenient Truth

The nonsense going on in Washington regarding deficits and debt limits is little more than a warped version of the Theatre of the Absurd. Ionesco, Genet and Beckett are probably looking down at the bizarre high jinks and laughing hysterically.

It's time to put things into perspective. Congress is talking about cutting $2 billion from this year's budget. Is $2 billion a lot of money? Consider this: the U.S. is borrowing $188 million every hour! That's a little more than $3 million every single minute! So when Congress thinks they're doing something wonderful by cutting $2 billion, they are cutting the amount that we borrow in about eleven hours! Shakespeare had it right; there is something rotten in the state of Denmark.

The U.S. has borrowed, and thus has to pay interest on, over $14 trillion. What's $14 trillion? Look at it this way: $14,000,000,000,000. Look at it another way; the debt is larger than the economies of China, Australia and Great Britain combined.

The time for drastic action is now. Instead of all the meaningless and illogical chatter going on in Washington that is being called 'negotiation,' why doesn't some Congressman or Senator propose the following?

Eliminate the Department of Homeland Security. It consists of a bunch of bureaucrats that cost a lot of money. Law enforcement will continue to function just fine.

Eliminate the Department of Education. This bureaucracy certainly has not improved education in the U.S. one iota.

Eliminate the Department of Commerce. This bureaucracy does virtually nothing except conduct the census, and the census can still be carried on without the fat-cats.

Eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Eliminate the Department of Energy. The focus on 'green' is costing a fortune.

Eliminate all agricultural subsidies.

Eliminate all foreign aid. It's time to fix our own country.

Eliminate a good portion of the Department of Defense budget. As author and commentator John Stossel put it so succinctly, " -- [the Defense Department's] most important role [is] protecting us and our borders from those who wish us harm. Today we have more than 50,000 soldiers in Germany, 30,000 in Japan, and 9,000 in Britain. Those countries should pay for their own defense -- "

Canada privatized their air traffic control system and it works just fine. We should do the same.

There are probably many more functions and departments that could be scaled back or eliminated altogether. But it will take someone inside the government who cares more about the future of the United States than his or her own re-election, someone who has the courage and determination to do the right thing, someone who has the backbone and moral fiber to stand up and be heard.

Sadly, I don't think there is a single member of Congress who has the chutzpah.