U.S. Fiscal Irresponsibility

An op-ed piece in today's Salt Lake Tribune by cartoonist Pat Bagley touched on the subject of the current fiscal crisis the United States finds itself in. I wrote the following response to that op-ed:

"First of all, typical to a Bagley op-ed cartoon, this just doesn't make sense. The words of the character don't correlate to the rest of the picture. Plus, Bagley's drawings are amateurish, at best. Try looking up David Horsey, the Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist. His pictures are vastly superior to Bagley, and his comments always make sense.

Second, as I read things about the Congressional spending habits, I find it interesting that no one has remembered that the basic fiscal approach from both parties has flip-flopped. Until sometime early this century, the Democrats wanted to 'Save, Save, Save!' And the Republicans wanted to 'Spend, Spend, Spend!' Why the basic philosophical shift in dealing with America's money woes?
Unfortunately for both sides, partisanship will destroy this country. We can all thank Slimy Newt Gingrich for that one when he pressed the Republican Congress to fight any bipartisan efforts in any aspect of government. His "Contract with America" was the beginning of the current fiscal crisis.
In order to end this whole crisis, both sides of the aisle need to set aside the suspicions and anger and work cooperatively--as they did for decades of growth--to find solutions that will get us back on track towards fiscal health.

Lastly, in the entire debate as to what programs can be saved, and which ones can't, another lost bit of history looms over the entire discussion...that as of 2010, had Congress stuck to their predecessors guns and kept the plan in place, the United States would be out of debt, Medicare and Social security would be just fine, and the country would not be in trillions of dollars of debt to China--a debt that may never get paid off now.

Who is to blame for our current crisis? Both parties, and two consecutive Presidents...and all the voters who kept them all in office. In other words, we ALL are responsible. So before you go around pointing fingers, you'd better take a look at yourself.

Remembering a Day of Infamy

It is December 7th.

Seventy one years ago was the attack on Pearl Harbor. Truly a "date which shall live in infamy," I hope that you take a moment to reflect on that terrible day that launched the Greatest Generation into the greatest conflict in history.
We all owe those men that were lost that day our respect, out deepest thanks and our honor. They will never be forgotten!