Hypocrisy and Sacrifice

Take a look at the video clip of reporters ambushing and chastising Senator Bunning. What is most amazing to me is the sheer level of hypocrisy of our media and of Americans in general. We want cuts but we don't want to be cut.
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Most everyone in the country is screaming about the monumental debt. This is not a partisan point. Dems and Repups, as well as media outlets, are all screaming about the astronomical debt.

When one man stands to keep the rules as just recently passed, he is mercilessly attacked by the media, the left, and much of the public. What's more frustrating is that I didn't see any republican senators jumping in to back him up. This should be extremely alarming to you as well. Any republican senators that did not back him up should be immediately called on the carpet. These weak republicans need to have their true conservative morals called into question and possibly removed from office.

The problem here is that everyone has a stake in the game. Every American will be adversely affected by Government cutting. Everyone receives a benefit, works for the government, or knows someone who does. No matter who you are, you will feel the affects of any cut-backs. The problem is that cut-backs are inevitable. I believe that the number to pay off the debt is somewhere around $40k per American citizen as of today. This number is growing rapidly.

We just watched as the media pounded Sen. Bunning for enforcing a "Pay as you go" bill that was just signed into law not more than a few months ago. The media blamed Sen. Bunning for single-handedly hold up payments for all of these Americans who are suffering without their benefits. The fact is that the entire Senate who failed to pay for this bill is who held up those payments! We as voters need to write and inform them that we know the truth irrespective of what the media would like for us to believe.

I ask each of you, republican or democrat, to take a moment and ponder what it actually took to create this country. What it took to sustain this country throughout its history. Think for a minute if any of our founding fathers and countrymen sacrificed anything to create and/or keep this union?

Lewis Morris of New York, for example, must have known when he signed the Declaration that he was signing away his fortune. Within weeks, the British ravaged his estate, destroyed his vast woodlands, butchered his cattle, and sent his family fleeing for their lives. Another New Yorker, William Floyd, was also forced to flee when the British plundered his property. He and his family lived as refugees for seven years without income. The strain told on his wife; she died two years before the war ended.Ref

These couple of quotes are only but a few of thousands of untold stories where Americans have sacrificed to preserve this great nation and the freedoms that we have enjoyed for so many years.

We must keep in mind that as we work to correct the budget problems of the State and Federal Governments that we will feel the pain. That pain will be felt by you and by me. No one wishes to have their respective program, service, or benefit to be cut. No one wishes to see any one person laid off from their job. Furthermore, deciding which programs and services can be cut is extremely subjective. The importance of one program over another depends upon who you are speaking with. This is the very reason that we cannot legislate on emotion.

We must concentrate on retaining those services that we can all agree serve to keep good order and safety within the community. I think that we should first, as a community agree on a priority list. For example, Police and Fire = 1. Education = 2. Infrastructure (roads, etc) = 3. Health and Human Services = 4.

No matter the process, no matter the pain, it must be done. I believe that we as Americans must look at this and realize that these sacrifices that we're being asked to make are minute in comparison to what our predecessors have endured for this great nation.

There is a tipping point with regard to taxation. There is a point where too much taxation stagnates and actually reverses business growth thereby reducing the overall revenue intake at the state and federal level. The balance must be drawn between enough taxation to cover needed programs (safety, education, etc.) and too much taxation where the revenue flow will not even cover the basics. Too high of a tax reduces money flow. Money flow produces money and jobs. As the scale of taxation rises, the job creation drops. In turn, the need for more social programs like unemployment benefits grow. It's a deadly downward spiral that we're toying with here.

Simply put, I believe that the time for a little personal sacrifice is now. This debt to GDP ratio that our government is toying with could literally be the demise of this country. The problems with the state is that there simply are too many social programs (entitlements).

It may be yours or my program that's cut. I understand that I will not be happy and nor will you but we must do the right thing. If we continue to provide entitlements to the point that there is no more country then there will be no more entitlements. We must painstakingly restore balance.

We start this by writing to our representatives and more importantly to our local media outlets. Let them know that you will not stand for the "spin" and "attack" that was levied upon a man who decided to do the right thing. A man who decided to actually uphold the law. The blame should lay at the feet of 99 other men and women who opted to ignore the law thereby causing the delay in the extension of benefits.