Mission America Foundation focuses on the fight against human trafficking, and over the last several years Aaron and his team has made a significant difference in Tennessee and around the world preventing and rescuing trafficking victims.
Bellevue Breakfast Club will meet Saturday, January 6 at Plantation Pub. Located at 8321 Sawyer Brown Rd., Nashville TN 37221, and will begin around 8:30am.
by Rod Williams, Jan. 2, 2023- We're rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell.
In foreign affairs, an isolationist mood in the country may mean America abdicates its leadership role in the world. A Russian victory in Ukraine may occur and that may lead to additional Russian aggression and drag us into a war to defend a NATO ally. It is doubtful we are up to the task of challenging Chinese aggression. We no longer have the industrial capacity to be the "arsenal of democracy."
With approximately two million foreigners a year pouring across our open southern border, many of them being from nations which wish us harm, we are ripe for a major jihadist terrorist attack. The threat of nuclear exchange appears to me to be as great as any time in our history. The list goes on.
One of the threats to our national security which does not get a lot of attention is the threat to our national security caused by our growing national debt. One glimmer of hope is that this is now being recognized as a serious threat. Even liberals are waking up. Those of you who read the conservative journals of analysis and opinion know it is threat. The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and a few other publications, and organizations like Committe for a Responsible Federal Budget provide the data and explain the problem. Even we who know it is serious problem, have heard it for so many years that we become somewhat jaded. Now however, even the tax and spend liberals are realizing that our current debt trajectory is not sustainable.
Writing in today's New York Times, German Lopez writes the following:
The federal debt starts the new year at a level that is hard to grasp: $34 trillion. That is 1.2 times the U.S.’s annual economic output. At the end of World War II, the ratio was only about 1.1.
Both parties have contributed to the situation. Republicans have passed large tax cuts. Democrats have enacted ambitious climate and health care initiatives. Both funneled money to Americans in response to the Covid pandemic.
For years, many economists believed the country’s debt was not a problem. Interest rates were low, which held down debt payments. Inflation was also low, which suggested the debt wasn’t hampering the economy. If anything, additional government spending helped create jobs when unemployment was elevated for much of the 2010s.
But times have changed, and federal deficits now look scarier.
The author quotes liberal's favorite economist Paul Krugman as saying, “Serious deficit reduction, a bad idea a decade ago, is a good idea now.” I would disagree that serious deficit reduction was ever a "bad idea," but at least someone to whom liberals with listen is now saying serious deficit reduction is a good idea.
For a New York Times columnist to say federal deficits are scary is a sea change. It is not just this one article, but I have been seeing a change in tone from other liberal voices. It is encouraging that liberals are starting to see the problem. Unfortunately, at the same time liberals may be waking up, what passes for conservatism today may be retreating in concern about deficits and the national debt. Republicans are backtracking. To address the problem of the growing national debt we must address Social Security and Medicare and Republicans have joined Democrats in taking those issues off the table.
We're rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell.
The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:
Though our level of debt is dangerous for both our economy and for national security, America just cannot stop borrowing. The U.S. gross national debt – the combination of both the debt held by the public and intragovernmental debt – hit $34 trillion Friday, which is barely three months after it hit $33 trillion. A truly depressing ‘achievement.’
There is not a single economic reason to add to the debt at the rate we are, but sadly our political leaders are unwilling to make the changes we need to turn the fiscal situation around.
There is some good news: 2023 was actually a good year for fiscal responsibility, where we saw a net $1.3 trillion improvement in the ten-year deficit picture, largely thanks to the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA). That’s a decent down payment on the much-needed deficit reduction it will take to stem the rise in our national debt.
But as we enter 2024, there is a huge risk we will return to making things worse by adding new tax cuts, spending increases, and/or ignoring the caps agreed to in the FRA.
We remain hopeful that policymakers will take further measures to reduce our borrowing either by raising taxes, reducing spending, or creating a fiscal commission – or ideally by doing all of the above.
We can be a weak divided country where our leaders fight, pander, and take the easy way out while we become increasingly vulnerable, or we can do the hard work to be stronger, more secure, and more prosperous for the long run. This is a moment of consequence and continuing to refuse to pay our own bills will not lead us to where we need to be as a nation.
to end the party, but if there is any chance that you are driving with an elevated BAC, then stop the party. Say, “OK folks, we need to straighten up. I need your help in getting us home.” Don’t sing or engage in distracting conversation. Turn off the radio. Don’t talk on the cell phone. Give driving your undivided attention. Don’t let anyone in the car have an open container. You may be perfectly capable of driving, but if a drunk passenger is yelling out the window, the police may stop the car and give you a drunk driving test. The moment you get in the car the party is over.
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| Rep. Bill Beck |
Stay safe. Drive careful. Happy New Years.
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