It's time to put the "Debt Ceiling" into some kind of perspective that most everyone can understand. The news does not explain what is going on in simple terms for a reason--we the people have not participated in our government; therefore, we have lost our "entitlement" by virtue of ignorance.
If you have been watching the news, you might have heard the word, "demagogy." 20th-century American social critic and humorist H.L. Mencken defined a demagogue as "one who will preach doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." Demagogy "emphasizes the use of lying and falsehoods, skilled demagogues often need to use only special emphasis by which an uncritical listener will be led to draw the desired conclusion themselves. Moreover, a demagogue may well believe his or her own arguments (for example, there are good reasons to assume that Adolf Hitler —certainly one of the most successful demagogues in history—sincerely believed his own anti-Jewish diatribes)".
Sad to say America, but we are the idiots. Voters don't understand because traditionally, they are do not view themselves as impacted. The debt ceiling has been about big business, chambers of commerce and bankers. Now it is about YOU.
Maybe you remember Fiddler on the Roof--a musical based on a Jewish father, Reb Tevye and his five daughters. The actual "fiddler" is a figure that appears throughout "is a metaphor for survival, through tradition and joyfulness, in a life of uncertainty and imbalance." Reb Tevye's family is very poor but living within their means. They are under constant fear that the Tsar (Nicholas II of Russia) will evict them from their village. In "If I were a Rich Man," Tevye sings about what his life would be like if he were rich. One of the lines of the song is, "When you're Rich they Think you really know...."...meaning that the average person listens to the rich because they MUST be smarter--otherwise, how did they get rich? As we are discovering, in politics it doesn't take genius to accomplish wealth.
Desiring a better life is not indicative of America. I believe many people in other countries DREAM of a better life. Therefore, it is not just the "American Dream" but we claimed it and made it happen. Unfortunately, our country started living beyond its means and got greedy. I'm not saying that wealth is evil or even remotely bad. I'm saying that if you earned your way, you HAVE earned it. It does not mean that you should have to pay for those who refuse to earn their way. Taxes are one thing. If you EARN, you pay. Our country has a lot of whiners who pay nothing and expect everything.
All About Avoiding Default
U.S. Treasury Secretary of State, Tim Geithner, is all about avoiding default on the U.S. debt. Our country OWES about 40 cents on every dollar on borrowed money. Yes, our government BORROWS so we can maintain a level false security. As a result, we have over-spent.
A simple analogy would be that you borrow to own a home, furniture, a car, perhaps a boat and have credit cards. You OWN nothing. The bank owns it. Every month, YOU pay interest but your dept is increasing because of the interest rate accumulation. This is living beyond a person's means. Amplify the problem to a government living beyond its means.
DEFINITION: The DEBT CEILING is amount of money the American Government can BORROW to pay their bills. The problem/solution is two fold: How much can we BORROW and how much can we CUT? The threats keep rolling that if the debt ceiling isn't raised, cuts will hit "government programs" or "Entitlement Programs" such as: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Veteran's benefits by TRILLIONS of Dollars.
I personally think it is criminal that money has been taken from our pay checks and improperly allocated. I remember the my first real paycheck and seeing what was taken--taxes and social security. My question on SS was, "If this money is intended for me, then why can't I save it myself?" At 19 years old, that was a really good question.
"The Outstanding Public Debt as of 14 Jul 2011 at 08:15:43 PM GMT is: $14, 346, 530, 446, 184.03. The estimated population of the United States is 310,933,420so each citizen's share of this debt is $46,140.20.
$3.85 billion per day since September 28, 2007!"
So What Happens if America Defaults?
The government is worried about a loss of faith in America as perceived by other countries and not by America itself. The real problem is that America has lost faith in America. Borrowing and printing more money does not achieve fiscal control (a balanced budget). It prolongs the inevitable. While the Government worries about defaulting, it's nothing new to the average American. Most of us aren't paying all of our bills, have lost credit rating points and credibility. 405,000 Americans are claiming to be JOBLESS and unemployment is at 9.2% (which is not an accurate number as many homeless are not included statistically).
The clock is still ticking and no deal has been stuck. I'm really sick of hearing about THE WAR ON TERROR when as Americans, we are being terrorized by our own government and essentially held hostage.
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