Time for Feds to Tighten Belts

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As the clock continues to tick closer and closer to the "deadline" established by the Obama Administration for resolving the debate over increasing the American debt limit, it is important for taxpayers and voters to remember several important facts.

First, despite Mr. Obama’s effort to claim otherwise, the current debt debacle is wholly the responsibility of Obama and the Democrat Party. They were the ones who accumulated and signed off on more spending than has ever been seen in American history – so much so that in the first 19 months of the Obama presidency, more red ink had been added to America’s balance sheet than had been accumulated from George Washington to George W. Bush.

Second, in spite of the worn out drumbeat by Mr. Obama and his liberal compatriots in the US Senate and US House that taxes need to be raised as a part of any debt deal, the fact is that historically tax cuts during times of economic hardship and recession lead to economic growth. John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan both advocated lower tax rates, and, when implemented, these lower rates led to long-term economic recovery and, ironically, greater tax revenue into the Treasury.

Third, because of Mr. Obama and the liberal Democrats, the United States is on the verge of going broke. In short, this republic does not have any more money to spend on any new entitlement programs, and is quickly running short of funds for old, established programs, such as Social Security and Medicare. Indeed, were all of the resources – cash, homes, cars, property – of all of the rich people in America confiscated by the federal government, there would not be enough money available to last a year and pay for all of the madcap spending in which Washington has been engaged since 2009.

The simple fact of the matter is that the time has come for serious belt-tightening at all levels of government – including state and local – but most importantly at the federal level. The American taxpayer has paid enough hard-earned money to the politicians and bureaucrats for all of their programs and projects, and the time has come for real and serious budget cuts to be implemented in order to salvage some hope of fiscally sound future for our children.

Louis R. Petolicchio is a an Auditor for Jackson Township, Lebanon County and a
contributor to PaTownHall.com.