National Debt Reduction

"No new taxes" and "No cuts in entitlements" have both become paralyzing cliches in the past week, arresting any tangible Congressional work output, and stifling productive thought.

Let's take perception a step further. If you don't pay off your personal credit card debt, you eventually lose your credit. Credit card payments require cash. So does the government credit card.

And a large portion of any cut funds were used to pay people's paychecks, (or indirectly to pay those who produce materials.) And if, on the average, people make $ 50,000 per year, every billion you cut from the budget means twenty thousand more jobs lost, plus the income tax revenue those people could have paid.

But there is no doubt that we must cut spending. My previous blog (scroll down) addresses relatively painless ways to reduce Medicare and Social Security costs. Lest any one accuse me of lacking details, allow me to advertise a small book I published two years ago, "Access to Medical Care: Common Sense for Doctors, Patients and the Public" It's fifty-six pages long, can be read in a single evening, and is available on Amazon for $ 8.95, (soon to also be a six dollar e-book.) I just read the whole book again this morning, and believe it to still be as relevant today as in 2008. Except the last chapter, "Working Together". Congress is still undecided on that.