Collapse: “It Will Be Sudden and Very Painful”

Ruins of houses in Fredericksburg, Virginia Circa Civil War. Are we preparing for another?

While it’s too early to tell whether or not the destruction in stock markets will continue as it did in 2008, one thing is for sure – when the bottom finally falls out of this economy it’s going to come as a surprise to tens of millions of people who have been bamboozled by their trusted politicians and corporate elite.

Today’s Dow Jones collapse of 350 points is but an indicator of the severe volatility and unmitigated destruction we can expect as this crisis enters the next phase. Former comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) David Walker warns that it’s going to hurt:

“Here’s the bottom line. If you take the total liabilities of the United States – public debt, unfunded pensions, retiree health care, under funding with regard to social security, with regard to Medicare, a range of commitments and contingencies – as of September 30 2010 we would have had to have had $61.6 trillion dollars in the bank in order to be able to cover those obligations.” Walker explained.

“The fact of the matter is that government has grown too big, promised too much and waited too long to restructure. Our problem is overwhelmingly a spending problem.” Walker, now the head of the fiscal advocacy group the Comeback America Initiative, told viewers.

“Lets understand something very simple. If you have escalating deficits and mounting debt, that means you have to increase the debt ceiling limit at some point and it means absent structural reforms in entitlement programs, defense and other spending, those represent deferred tax increases.”

“We are not exempt from a debt crisis,” he said. “We’re never going to default, because we can print money. At the same point in time, we have serious interest rate risk, we have serious currency risk, we have serious inflation risk over time. If it happens, it will be sudden and it will be very painful.”

It’s not a matter of if, but when. The course is mathematically unsustainable, and a few hundred billion in cuts, as ridiculous as it sounds, is simply not going to be enough.

As Charlie McGrath pointed out in his August 3 video report, the US government will have to take extreme measures, like Greece is being forced to take now, to keep the system alive, albeit on life support:

We are in the leagues of nations such as Greece and Italy, these other nations who their national debt far outpaces their GDP, and reality is these nations are going through austerity.

And, here comes your crisis of reality.

The austerity measures that are about to come our way are going to be like nothing we’ve ever seen or even dreamt about in this country – certainly worse than any of the politicians getting before the cameras will tell you is coming. They’re telling you if you go further into debt everything’s going to be OK.

…President Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke are out of bullets. They have nothing left…they’ve tried everything: QE1, QE2, Stimulus 1, Stimulus 2, there’s just nothing left that can be done to help create jobs in this country.

Video:  WARNING ...Real Crisis Ahead

Many don’t believe it will happen here. But make no mistake, it’s coming (in fact, it’s happening right here and now!).

They’re going to print more money and erode your savings. They’re going to borrow more money from foreign creditors, until such time that they won’t lend to us anymore. Prices for essentials like food, energy and clothing are going to increase exponentially over the next few years. At the same time we will see forced cuts to programs like social security, Medicaid, Medicare and a host of other entitlement programs. Millions of Americans are going to feel like they’ve been hit with a sledgehammer.

The United States of America is embroiled in the next Great Depression – and there is no way out. The economy will not, contrary to the opinion of our government and the presstitutes who promote their agendas, recover in a few months. We’re in this for the long haul, as in years and decades not weeks or months, and all of us will soon learn what TEOTWAWKI means.

Source:  ShiftPlan - Mac Slavo - August 4th, 2011

Obama says we're only "halfway" to where he wants to take us as Dow drops 512 Points!

Obama says we're only "halfway" to where he wants to take us as Dow drops 512 Points!

Money/CNN is reporting it is the worst financial crisis since 2008.

"The conventional wisdom on Wall Street was that the economy was growing -- that the worst was behind us," said Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital. "Now what people are realizing is the stimulus didn't work, and we may be headed back to recession."

There's "total fear" in the market, said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at the world's largest money manager, BlackRock.

"In the last two weeks, we've been through the ringer," said Rich Ilczyszyn, market strategist with futures broker Lind-Waldock. "When we start looking at the recovery, there's nothing to hang our hats on anymore."

Earlier today, I read a transcript from Obama's fundraiser on Real Clear Politics where he said we weren't even "halfway there" to where he wants us to be.

When I said 'change we can believe in' I didn't say 'change we can believe in tomorrow.' Not change we can believe in next week. We knew this was going to take time because we've got this big, messy, tough democracy," President Obama said at a campaign fundraiser in Chicago on Wednesday night.

Sounds like this darned democracy thing is impeding Obama's progress. If we are only "halfway" to wherever it is he's trying to take us, all I can do is pray God helps us survive until January 2013.

Sherry Phillips at Tea Party Nation - August 4, 2011 at 5:43pm

Related:

Drunken Ben Bernanke Tells Everyone How Screwed U.S. Economy Really Is

Romney Video: Obama Isn’t Working: Chicago

Globalist Imperial Network

The Smoking Gun:  Preparation for War on the People

Send This Letter to Your Congressman and Senator: 9,000,000,000,000 Ways to Balance the Budget

This is a letter that Dr. Coburn sent to all of his Senate colleagues on the 27th:

9,000,000,000,000
Ways to Balance the Budget

July 27, 2011

Dear Colleague,

Nearly everyone in Washington agrees we must reduce the deficit, but few offer any specifics as to how to do it. Last week, I released a report, BACK IN BLACK, outlining thousands of detailed budget options within every federal department and nearly every major program that, if taken together, would result in savings of more than $9 trillion over the next decade.

I do not expect anyone to agree with everything recommended in this report, but I expect everyone will find things with which they agree. With negotiations stalemated, I wanted to bring your attention to some very simple commonsense ideas I believe most of us—and most Americans—regardless of party or ideology could support that would save at least $355 billion.

End Unemployment Payments to Millionaires
Savings: $186 million over ten years
Nearly 3,000 households with incomes of $1 million or more were paid a total of $18.6 million in unemployment insurance benefits in 2008. Those earning $1 million a year do not need and should not qualify for unemployment compensation.

Stop Payments to Dead People
Savings: Over $1 billion over ten years.
Washington sent over $1 billion to more than 250,000 deceased individuals over the past decade. The federal government paid for dead people’s prescriptions and wheelchairs, subsidized their farms, helped pay their rent, and even chipped in for their heating and air conditioning bills. Some of these payments were fraud, some were incompetence, and some were intentionally required by law. Congress should end payments to the dead and federal agencies should ensure beneficiaries and participants of government payments are, in fact, alive.

Eliminate Duplication
Savings: At least $50 billion over ten years
In March, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report examining just 34 missions of the federal government and identified hundreds of duplicative and overlapping programs costing more than $215 billion a year. These included 47 separate job training programs, 88 economic development programs, 82 teacher quality programs, and 56 financial literacy programs. “Reducing or eliminating duplication, overlap, or fragmentation could potentially save billions of taxpayer dollars annually and help agencies provide more efficient and effective services,” GAO concluded. Another independent study identified at least 180 economic development programs within more than a dozen different agencies costing taxpayers about $17.9 billion annually. Duplication within the federal bureaucracy should be consolidated.

Eliminate Sweet Heart Deals for Government Contractors
Savings: At least $2 billion over ten years
The federal government pays over $500 billion annually to contractors. In 2009, $170 billion worth of contracts were awarded without competition. Competitive bidding for government contracts helps ensure the highest-quality services for the lowest cost, while no-bid contracts waste billions of dollars with little apparent benefit to anyone other than contractors. No bid contracts should be eliminated.

Collect Unpaid Taxes Owed by Federal Employees
Savings: $1 billion over ten years
Nearly 100,000 civilian federal employees were delinquent on their federal income taxes in 2008. These federal employees owe a total of $962 million in unpaid federal income taxes. The IRS should collect these overdue taxes.

Reduce Congress’ Spending on Itself
Savings: $3.82 billion over ten years
Since 2001, Congress has boosted its own budget by 55 percent. At the same time, the average American wage increased by only 23 percent. In real dollars, the budget of the House and Senate has grown by more than $1 billion over the last decade. Congress must lead by example and do more with less. Congress’ spending on itself should be reduced by at least 15 percent.

Stop Overpaying Drug Companies
Savings: $480 million over ten years
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) overpays pharmaceutical companies nearly a million dollars a week. According to the Government Accountability Office, drug companies were overpaid $3.9 million in a single month! HRSA should be required to routinely monitor prices to ensure taxpayers are not being overcharged and take immediate corrective action to recoup any excess payments.

Reduce Unnecessary Government Printing
Savings: $4.9 billion over ten years
Federal agencies – excluding the Department of Defense – spend nearly $1.3 billion a year on routine office printing. A third of this printing is unnecessary, according to an independent analysis. Agencies should put an end to this wasteful habit and administrative accounts of each department should be reduced accordingly.

Eliminate Unnecessary Printing of Congressional Documents
Savings: $312.2 million
In the digital age, printed copies of Congressional reports and other documents are as likely to grace a landfill as a bookshelf. In 2010, nearly $100 million was allocated for Congressional Printing and Binding account. A representative of the Government Printing Office (GPO) recently testified, “70 percent of the GPO’s funds are used to digitize legislation, schedules and other federal records, while 30 percent is used to print hard copies.” Reducing the Congressional Printing account by 30 percent would put an end to the wasteful practice of printing and distributing congressional documents that are almost immediately thrown away. The documents would still be available online and users could decide whether or not to print hard copies.

Get Rid of Unneeded Federal Properties
Savings: $15 billion over ten years
The federal government has over 63,000 buildings that are underutilized and not utilized at all. This number has increased by more than 12,000 from only two years ago. It costs over $1.2 billion every year to operate these properties. The federal government should dispose of all excess properties within five years. According to the Obama Administration, at least $15 billion could be saved if the federal government gets rid of its unneeded properties.

End Subsidy for Ethanol Blending
Savings: $2 billion one time savings
Ethanol producers reap the benefits of a vast array of government assistance, including tax credits, grants, loans, loan guarantees, federally-directed markets, and a federal minimum usage mandate. The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit provides a 45-cent-per-gallon federal tax credit to producers who blend ethanol with gasoline. Ethanol-blended fuel is nearly a third less efficient than gasoline, has contributed to the increased price of corn, and can cause engine damage. Ethanol subsidies are outdated, duplicative, and have failed to meet the intended goals of greater energy independence with a cleaner fuel alternative. The ethanol tax credit should be eliminated immediately.

Reduce the Number of Limousines Owned by the Government
Savings: $115.5 million over ten years
In the past two years, the federal government’s limousine fleet has grown by 73 percent. The federal government had 238 limos in 2008 and that number reached 412 last year. The number of limos owned by the federal government should be reduced to its previous level.

Reduce Federal Vehicle Fleet
Savings: $5.6 billion over ten years
Federal agencies own or lease over 662,000 cars, vans, sport-utility vehicles, trucks, buses and other vehicles. Since 2006, the federal vehicle fleet has grown by five percent and the cost of maintaining and servicing those vehicles has grown over 25 percent, to $4.6 billion. These vehicles consume about a million gallons of fuel per day. The General Services Administration will purchase more than 100 more vehicles this year. Instead, the number of vehicles in the federal fleet should be reduced by at least 20 percent.

Reduce Junkets and Unnecessary Travel
Savings: $43.3 billion over ten years
The federal government spends $15 billion on travel every year. All travel that is not mission-critical should be ended.

Reduce Advertising by the Federal Government
Savings: $5.6 billion over ten years
The federal government spent almost $1 billion on advertising last year. While some advertising may be needed, much of it is wasteful and unnecessary and this amount should be cut in half.

Limit the Amount Spent to Host Government Conferences
Savings: $1 billion over ten years
The federal government spent at least $2 billion on conferences between 2000 and 2006. Some conferences may provide important venues for exchanging ideas or providing training. Others appear to be little more than government funded vacations at beachside resorts and other exotic destinations. Traveling to meetings and hosting conferences are, in large part, no longer necessary with the availability of teleconferencing. Total spending on conferences should not exceed $100 million annually and conferences should only be held when other options are not feasible.

Use Better Measure of Inflation to Determine Increases in Benefit Payments
Savings: Approximately $180 billion over ten years
Many government benefits are automatically increased for inflation every year, based on the consumer price index (CPI). For more than 15 years, many budget experts have agreed the current CPI mechanism outpaces actual inflationary growth, causing the cost of government programs to rise rapidly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics developed a more accurate measure of inflation, known as Chained CPI, which over the last ten years has grown at a slightly slower rate than the current measure for CPI. Congress should adopt the recommendation of the President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to transition to Chained-CPI government wide to ensure this automatic spending increase is as accurate as possible to avoid uncontrolled automatic spending increases in federal programs.

Eliminate Hollywood Liaisons
Savings: $34.4 million over ten years
Many federal agencies have offices and programs to assist Hollywood movie producers and television execs, often with the goal of ensuring a positive portrayal of the federal government. The agencies have at least 14 employees costing $1.2 million. These should be eliminated.

Stop Purchasing Excess Land
Savings: $4.1 billion over ten years
The federal government has spent more than $430 million to purchase additional land since the start of the recent recession and more than $2.3 billion over the past decade. At the same time, the Department of the Interior maintenance backlog on public lands has surged to as high as $19.9 billion, resulting in serious risk to visitors and deteriorating conditions of important national treasures. The National Mall, for example, has been so neglected it has been called a national disgrace. Until the federal government can afford to take care of the land it already owns, it should be prohibited from purchasing additional land.

End Payments for Coal Cleanup When Projects Have Been Certified as Being Completed
Savings: $1.23 billion over ten years
The federal government continues to send funds intended for the cleanup up abandoned coal mines to several states and tribes that have already been certified as completing their work. The funds are unrestricted and have essentially become slush funds. These dollars should be used only for their intended purpose and directed to states with abandoned sites, with excess amounts should be returned.

Suspend the Automatic Pay Raise for Members of Congress
Savings: $6 million over three years
Members of Congress typically receive an automatic pay raise every year. Congress voted to freeze the salary of its member for the past two years at $174,000. The pay for members of Congress should be frozen for at least three more years.

Get the Department of Defense Out of Education and the Grocery Store Business
Savings: $19 billion over ten years
The Department of Defense currently operates hundreds of grocery stores and dozens of elementary schools in the United States. These grocery stores are in the same communities that have Wal-Mart, Costco, Safeway, and other choices for military personnel. Instead of paying our soldiers more money and allowing them to choose where to shop, we subsidize thousands of federal employees to work in grocery stores around the country. Similarly, the Department of Defense employs thousands of teachers in a unique school district called the Department of Defense Education Activity. Under the Pentagon’s management, taxpayers are spending more than $50,000 per student enrolled in these schools. The Pentagon should shut down its education bureaucracy, send much of this money to bolster local public schools, and return the rest for debt reduction.

Terminate HHS’s Community Economic Development Program
Savings: $38 million over ten years.
The mission of the Community Economic Development program (CED) duplicates 180 other government development programs, has a very low success rate, and does not fit within the mission or expertise of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). According to HHS’s most recent report to the Congress, only one out of five funded projects within the CED program were successful. Due to its lack of success, duplicative nature, and inappropriate placement within HHS, CED should be eliminated.

End Federal Subsidies to Wealthy Doctors and Hospitals for Health Information Technology
Savings: $15.6 billion over ten years.
The federal government mandates and subsidizes the use health information technology (IT) for doctors and hospitals, despite scant evidence doing so will lower costs. Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize the purchase of health IT by doctors and hospitals.

Stop Medicare Payments for Uncovered Services
Savings: $1.97 billion over ten years.
Medicare currently only pays for medically necessary chiropractic services, but a HHS Inspector General report found the program improperly spent $178 million on chiropractic services in 2006. Implementing and enforcing current policies, along with more careful reviews of documentation, could save taxpayers nearly $2 billion over a decade.

This list is just a handful of the savings options contained within BACK IN BLACK. I would encourage you to review the thousands of other recommendations. I would also be interested in hearing other debt reduction ideas you might have.

Sincerely,
Tom A. Coburn, M.D.
U.S. Senator

America: Losing our AAA Credit Rating Anyway… So “NO” Reason to Raise Debt Ceiling!

Egan Jones, Moody’s and S&P  warn of credit rating downgrade for US from AAA to AA.  Now they are saying that even if we raise the debt ceiling they will no doubt downgrade us anyway.

Giving Obama another Trillion dollars and expecting him to be responsible with it it is like giving an alcoholic a 5th of Whiskey and expecting him only to take one drink on special occasions.

If we are going to lose our AAA credit rating, there is absolutely no reason to increase the debt ceiling.  We would be much smarter to hold out and insist that Cap, Cut and Balance be passed by the Senate and signed by the president and then move forward cutting like crazy!  No matter what Obama and the Dems tell us, the United States will not go into default!  We will finally just have to sit down tighten our belts as a nation and deal with the debt… and now is better than later when it is even higher.

We borrow 42 cents of every dollar we spend and half of that is from countries like China who hate us and are actually receiving land for whole cities to be built here in the United States in exchange for some of that debt we keep running up.  Much of the rest that we are borrowing is just printed money…

Obama is responsible for half of the total national debt we owe after only 2.5 years in office.  He created this debt and the responsibility is his!  Wake-up America, this is not George Bush’s fault, and I’ll admit he was a spender with two wars going!

Under George W. Bush we were paying $1.6 Billion in interest per day.  Under Obama, we are now paying $4.3 Billion in interest every day.  It would be a fool’s folly to raise our debt by another Trillion dollars if we lose our credit rating and have to pay more for that borrowed money.

The GOP has put forth plan after plan to avoid this debt crisis and last minute debt ceiling fight and House passed Cut, Cap and Balance last week.  President Obama has put forth nothing except an outline in a speech that the CBO said they couldn’t score (which he knew in advance).  The Gang of Six (mixed group of Senators) put out a 5-page outline and Harry Reid finally put out a last minute plan for the Dems that is a complete ruse.  One must wonder how long it will take for Americans to stop listening to the mainstream media who are just minions for the Obama administration and start using their common sense?!?

A downgrade in our country's credit rating could have an immediate impact.

"If we go from a AAA to a AA, our interest rates will go up, they won't explode. But, they'll go up, which means a larger portion of our tax money will go to paying interest," said Joe Prinzinger, Lynchburg College Economics Dept. Chair.

Tax money - dollars that you and I give to the feds - won't be spent on us; It'll be used solely to pay down the federal debt.

"People will wind up paying a higher percentage of their income to pay for groceries, gasoline, home and car loans and necessities," said Prinzinger

And there definitely will be a negative impact on Wall Street.

On April 19th Timothy Geithner went on TV and said there was no way that the U.S. credit rating would be downgraded.  On July 25th the president went on TV and said if there was no solution we would definitely lose our AAA credit rating.  So which is it.

You might not like everything that the GOP is fighting for or even what they end up agreeing to, and you will like the sacrifices even less if they hang firm, but in this fight they were the only players!  The insanity is that Obama keeps calling for a compromise on the debt crisis and for balance, yet it is he and his party that have no plans, refuse to compromise, threaten vetoes and refuse to move forward on a Balanced Budget Amendment that 75% of Americans support and is the only way that we can settle and stop future crisis and the unbridled spending of Washington.  66% support Cut, Cap and Balance which the House of Representatives passed last week, Harry Reid refused to allow the the Senate even to vote on and Obama threatened to veto before it was even passed.

If you understand Obama’s ideology and goal, this is exactly what he wants and spending us into second rate nation status is the plan! The real insanity is that most of America still doesn’t get that!

by Ask Marion

Related:

Fearmonger Friday:  Obama Administration Will Announce Which Bills Will Be Paid, Which Not, After Market Closes on Friday

Dick Morris (Op-Ed):  Obama’s Big Lie

Senator Jim DeMint… Cut, Cap and Balance

Review:  The Debt Ceiling and Economic Crisis Debate Rages On

CUTS Today Can Disappear Tomorrow… With a Balanced Budget Amendment…!  Originally posted at Idiots on the Left

Reid’s Gimmicks Unmasked: Record $3T Debt Increase Tied to Just $1T in Cuts

Obama on Sidelines in Critical Battle Over Debt Ceiling

Donald Trump Finally Weighs In On Debt Ceiling Debate

Video: Joe Walsh to Obama: Stop Lying

Steve King on default: Obama could be impeached

Super Congress:  Echoes of Tyranny Rising

Propa-Organists  -  Many in the know feel Soros will spend much of his time and money feeding the pro-Obama media, creating havoc for the 2012 election and attacking groups like the tea party, Fox News and anyone who is anti-globalism and therefore anti-Obama.

Mt. Debtmore USA

Debt Ceiling Analogy...

I’ve heard quite a few descriptions of the current debt ceiling debate lately, using the old teenage dependent’s credit card analogy. That analogy is not a bad one, I reckon, but it needs a little tweaking … in my opinion.

The analogy goes like this:

The Dhimmicrat Congress, having reached the legal limit of it’s spending capabilities and demanding a raise of the debt ceiling is like your teenage son maxxing out the credit card you gave him and now is asking for an increase in his credit limit. Since you’ve raised the limit so many times and he’s maxxed it each and every time, you’re getting a little peeved that he can’t grasp the concept of limiting his purchases.

That’s purdy close, but there’s more to it…

Your son didn’t just charge up the card, he also managed to talk several of your neighbors into loaning him even more money to blow – more money than you will earn in a lifetime. And he fully expects to pay back those loans with his credit card.

Those neighbors that he owes money to; hey hate your guts.

Your son has been boarding outlaws and hoodlums in your basement. He’s feeding them, clothing them and providing them entertainment, drugs and hookers. He’s using your money to support these people, in your own home, and they also hate your guts.

Your son has been buying expensive, custom-built guns and giving them to another set of your neighbors. These particular neighbors hate your guts also, and have actually assaulted you personally in the past on multiple occasions. Now they have some really cool weaponry to use on you – that you paid for.

Your son has hired someone to control what you can and cannot eat.

Your son has hired someone to control what you drive.

Your son has hired someone to control what you listen to on the radio.

Your son has hired someone to steal all your personal guns.

Your son has hired someone to control all those other controllers.

And each and every one of those controllers hate your guts.

Your son is now demanding that if you can’t afford extra credit card payments that you get another job. Although your son has never had a job of his own and can’t even spell the word, he’s convinced that by spending more of your money he can create some jobs for you. You will be able to work for him. He’ll pay you with your own money so you can afford to raise his credit card limit. And just to make sure that plan works smoothly he’s also subsidizing a union for you to join as his employee. The union will make sure your son treats you right because you’re paying them too. And of course, they’re giving some of that money to your son for landing them the contract.

You are getting ready to kick the living crap out of your son.

There. That’s a fine tuned analogy for ya…

Update:  Your job description as your son’s employee is to think up new innovative ways your son can swindle you.

Rather than going from the sublime to the ridiculous… we are now going the other way to here what Thomas Sowell has to say":

Thomas Sowell

Ideals Versus Realities

Many of us never thought that the Republicans would hold tough long enough to get President Obama and the Democrats to agree to a budget deal that does not include raising income tax rates. But they did -- and Speaker of the House John Boehner no doubt desires much of the credit for that.

Despite the widespread notion that raising tax rates automatically means collecting more revenue for the government, history says otherwise. As far back as the 1920s, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon pointed out that the government received a very similar amount of revenue from high-income earners at low tax rates as it did at tax rates several times as high.

How was that possible? Because high tax rates drive investors into tax shelters, such as tax-exempt bonds. Today, as a result of globalization and electronic transfers of money, "the rich" are even less likely to stand still and be sheared like sheep, when they can easily send their money overseas, to places where tax rates are lower.

Money sent overseas creates jobs overseas -- and American workers cannot transfer themselves overseas to get those jobs as readily as investors can send their money there.

All the overheated political rhetoric about needing to tax "millionaires and billionaires" is not about bringing in more revenue to the government. It is about bringing in more votes for politicians who stir up class warfare with rhetoric.

Now that the Republicans seem to have gotten the Democrats off their higher taxes kick, the question is whether a minority of the House Republicans will refuse to pass the Boehner legislation that could lead to a deal that will spare the country a major economic disruption and spare the Republicans from losing the 2012 elections by being blamed -- rightly or wrongly -- for the disruptions.

Is the Boehner legislation the best legislation possible? Of course not! You don't get your heart's desire when you control only one house of Congress and face a presidential veto.

The most basic fact of life is that we can make our choices only among the alternatives actually available. It is not idealism to ignore the limits of one's power. Nor is it selling out one's principles to recognize those limits at a given time and place, and get the best deal possible under those conditions.

That still leaves the option of working toward getting a better deal later, when the odds are more in your favor.

There would not be a United States of America today if George Washington's army had not retreated and retreated and retreated, in the face of an overwhelmingly more powerful British military force bent on annihilating Washington's troops.

Later, when the conditions were right for attack, General Washington attacked. But he would have had nothing to attack with if he had wasted his troops in battles that would have wiped them out.

Similar principles apply in politics. As Edmund Burke said, more than two centuries ago: "Preserving my principles unshaken, I reserve my activity for rational endeavors."

What does "rational" mean? At its most basic, it means an ability to make a ratio, as with "rational numbers" in mathematics. More broadly, it means an ability to weigh one thing against another.

There are a lot of things to weigh against each other, not only as regards the economy, but also what the consequences to this nation would be to have Barack Obama get re-elected and go further down the dangerous path he has put us on, at home and abroad. Is it worth that risk to make a futile symbolic vote in Congress?

One of the good things about the Tea Party movement is that it resisted the temptation to actually form a third political party, which has been an exercise in futility, time and time again, under the American electoral system.

But, if the Tea Party movement within the Republican Party becomes just a rule-or-ruin minority, then they might just as well have formed a separate third party and gone on to oblivion.

Writers can advocate things that have no chance at the moment, for their very writing about those things persuasively can make them possible at some future date. But to adopt the same approach as an elected member of Congress risks losing both the present and the future.

URGENT: Tell your Congressman to vote YES on the 'Cut Cap Balance' Act

Please Take Action: Vote Expected in House Today

I urge you to contact your Representative and ask him to co-sponsor and vote YES on the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011. 

--The bill number is H.R.2560.  (The number of the companion Senate bill is S.1340.) 

--The House is slated to vote on H.R.2560 on Tuesday, July 19, 2011.

--The Cut, Cap, and Balance Act meets the criteria of the Cut, Cap, and Balance Pledge:

1) It substantially cuts spending;

2) It creates enforceable spending caps;

3) It requires congressional passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that includes a spending limitation and a super-majority to raise taxes before the debt ceiling can be raised.

--The debt held by the public has more than doubled in just the past five years. Interest paid on the national debt is expected to more than triple over the next ten years.

--Many economists believe the US faces a Greek-style debt crisis within the next five years if we do not get our fiscal house in order very soon.

--The federal government has hit the $14.292 trillion debt limit set in February 2010. Raising the debt ceiling without significant spending cuts is simply a tax increase on future generations.

--Moody’s Investors Services has said the AAA rating of US government bonds is in jeopardy unless Congress passes “a budget that includes long-term deficit reduction.”

--Standard & Poor's has said it will downgrade US debt if the US doesn't 1) cut spending substantially and 2) REFORM the way it budgets, to control future spending.

--The Cut Cap and Balance Act (CCB) would meet the tests set forth by Moody's and S&P, so we never again face this kind of debt problem. In short, "CCB=AAA."

--The Cut, Cap, and Balance Act is a long-term deficit reduction package that will ensure we get back on the path of fiscal sanity and are not downgraded from our AAA bond rating.

Click here to see FreedomWorks' letter on the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act. 

Click here to see FreedomWorks' Key Vote Notice on the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act.

Please fax, call and email your Congressman and Senator(s) today and tell them to vote for Cut, Cap and Balance

Related:

Michele Bachmann Personalizes Cut, Cap and Balance

Red State:  Cut, Cap and Balance

Jim DeMint’s “Cut, Cap and Balance” Qualifier

The Caucus of House Conservative: Cut, Cap and Balance

Obama Officially Threatens to Veto Republicans’ Cut, Cap and Balance Bill (Before It Even Passes) – So Who Is Really the Obstructionist?