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When the Tea Party movement burst onto the political scene, we took to the streets because we knew America as we know it was under assault. Both political parties had abandoned any pretense of fiscal responsibility, and were simply dividing up our children’s future between them. And when We The People saw that nobody was looking out for the health of this great country and the economic system that has provided opportunity for countless generations of Americans, we demanded that our leaders take responsibility for their reckless waste and return to fiscal sanity.
It’s been a long, hard-fought battle every step of the way, and the struggle is only just beginning. But today we at least have an alternative to business-as-usual. With the new Ryan Budget, conservatives have a roadmap to return our country to a sustainable footing, and to secure a prosperous future for the generations to come. But in order to take advantage of this historic opportunity, we must understand the issues, get past the minor quibbles that might divide us and rally behind this serious effort to restore American greatness.
The best way to understand the Ryan Budget is to read the full proposal, which can be found in PDF format here. But if you don’t have time to read over 80 pages of dense political jargon, the graph above from the Wall Street Journal explains the difference between the Ryan plan and the current Democrat strategy. Under Obama and the Democrats, spending, taxation and debt would all continue to spiral out-of-control. Under the Ryan plan, taxation would never exceed 19% of GDP, spending would be cut by $5.3 trillion, the debt would go down, and Social Security and Medicare would be fully-funded without destructive cuts to national defense.
Just as importantly, Ryan’s budget will improve the safety net for the most vulnerable Americans by introducing more choice and competition to Medicare, and encourages more state-by-state flexibility in administering Social Security. The key is that the Ryan budget recognizes that prosperity comes from economic freedom, not government spending.
Though spending cuts are a huge part of the Ryan budget, reigning in the size of government and eliminating political handouts to Obama’s “Green Energy” cronies and wasteful farm subsidies, the proposal goes much farther. Equally important, the Ryan plan simplifies the tax system, replacing six tax brackets with two, and eliminating the loopholes that make a mockery of the current system. Eliminating the AMT, encouraging saving and investment by eliminating “double taxation” on capital gains and the corporate income tax, and encouraging investment in America with a Business Consumption Tax that favors American exports will all unlock America’s economic potential. Add to this the plan’s measures to improve and streamline job training programs, and it’s clear that this budget doesn’t just put an end to out-of-control government spending, but will spark a true recovery of the American economy.
As Rep. Ryan himself put in his Wall Street Journal editorial, “our budget draws a clear distinction between serious reformers and those who stand in the way of the growing bipartisan consensus for principled solutions.”
For all of us who have been worried for years that our deficit will destroy this country’s greatness, the way forward is clear. We must rally behind Rep. Ryan’s budget, demand that our leaders take action to pass it, and condemn those who stand in the way of the only real plan to return American to fiscal sanity. This is the great task of the grassroots conservative movement going forward, and one which I will devote my time, energy and resources towards. If we let this opportunity pass us by, another chance to fix this country may not come again. Because I refuse to watch this great nation descend into the kind of chaos we are seeing from bankrupt socialist countries like Greece, I am making my stand with Paul Ryan. I hope you’ll join me, and together we can save America and make our children and grandchildren proud.
Sincerely,
Dustin Stockton
Co-Founder
Western Representation PAC
PS – Please visit my blog to leave comments about this message.
The Credit Rating Agencies (Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s) have a negative outlook for the credit-worthiness of the United States. One (S&P’s) has downgraded the U.S.
The financial question for these credit rating agencies is: “Has the Congress taken CREDIBLE steps to reduce the national debt?” Right now, the answer is: No.
Consequently, for the first time, the U.S. has lost its AAA rating.
This credit-worthiness assessment is not Democrat or Republican politics; it is an economic reality. The political question is this: “Who is willing provide the political leadership to face this problem in the United States?” You will have to answer that question for yourself. As a nation, we need courage to face this question.
Market Watch writes on this issue here.
For more comprehensive content on this subject, click here for the Bloomberg article.
ABC published the article copied below. Click on the link or read it here:
S&P Drops US Credit Rating to AA+: 5 Easy-to-Understand Effects of a Downgrade.
So it’s happened — right or wrong: a downgrade of Uncle Sam’s credit for the first time in history. For more on Standard & Poor’s downgrade on U.S. long term debt, click here.
As the world waits for the Tokyo market to open at 8 p.m. on Sunday night, lots of people will be wondering what this means for the real economy and stock market. Here’s a quick primer based on ABC News’ extensive reporting on the possibility of a downgrade – five easy to understand effects:
1. The interest rates the government pays to finance the growing national debt will almost certainly rise as a result of the downgrade. That increases the amount of money Uncle Sam has to spend each year on “debt service.” General market discussions have turned on an increase in rates that would up the annual tally by about $10 in the short-term and go up to $75 billion in additional costs in the coming years.
2. The interest rates YOU and YOUR EMPLOYER pay will go up. Basic credit facilities — like mortgages, student loans and credit cards — are all at least loosely tied to the rates the government pays. A half a percent increase in mortgage rates could increase the total cost of the average traditional mortgage by $19K (on a $172K home). Businesses would have to spend more money to finance expansions. Costs for borrowed money goes up, effectively raising the price of anything you’re not paying for with cash.
3. Needless to say, increasing costs for consumers and businesses tends to slow their economic activity. Some estimates put a downgrade like this as likely to shave 1 percent off GDP. This slowing certainly increases the risks that the U.S. will have a second dip into recession. It also means less tax revenue, so the potential for additional debt increases.
4. As the economy slows, expect the stock market to react. After all, investors buy shares to get a piece of growing profits. A slowing economy means profits grow less rapidly or go down. The relative value of a share of anything will go down. Some experts predict a downgrade could force stocks to sell-off by 6 percent to 10 percent in short order. That’s another 1,100 points on the Dow.
5. A slowdown in economic activity also means less demand for workers. The non-partisan group Third Way has published estimates that a simple 0.5 percent increase in interest rates could erase more than 640,000 jobs.
The following article from Tea Party Watcher gives a good perspective on different points of view within the Tea Party regarding the current battle over the national debt. What do you think?
Tea Party activists are split between opposing any new increase to the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and tying an increase to spending cuts, caps and a balanced budget amendment.
On one side is the Tea Party Patriots group, which is urging its supporters to sing a “no debt increase” pledge. On the other side are Tea Party-related groups with significant GOP establishment backing such as Freedom Works and Americans for Prosperity. Tea Party Express has joined this side.
These groups have joined a coalition calling for “Cut, Cap and Balance” to be the condition for a raising of the debt ceiling.
This approach, developed by the Republican Study Committee, calls for “substantial cuts in spending that will reduce the deficit next year and thereafter,” “ enforceable spending caps that will put federal spending on a path to a balanced budget,” and congressional passage of a balanced budge amendment. [The Hill, July 4] ] Click here for the complete source
Blog your thoughts!!!!
As we are celebrating the 4th of July this weekend, we recommend you take some time to read some substantive articles about who we are as Americans
You can click on the links to read any of the following:
The Heritage Foundation article, ‘Why Does American Welcome Immigrants?” is an excellent article on the fundamental nature of America as a nation founded on the hard word of immigrants.
Thomas Sowell’s article “July 4th” is tremendous review of 7/4/1776 marking America as a “radically different kind of government from the governments that prevailed around the world”.
Paul Ryan’s June 2nd speech to the Alexander Hamilton Socieity, “American Exceptionalism”, lays out all the fundamental principles that make America different and great.
Pass this on to your friends. Fuel the grassroots fire that is re-awakening an understanding of who we are as Americans. We need to ponder and reflect on our American Identity this 4th of July, and urge our friends to do the same.
Fourth of July may be just a holiday for fireworks to some people. But it was a momentous day for the history of this country and the history of the world.
Not only did July 4, 1776 mark American independence from England, it marked a radically different kind of government from the governments that prevailed around the world at the time — and the kinds of governments that had prevailed for thousands of years before.
The American Revolution was not simply a rebellion against the King of England, it was a rebellion against being ruled by kings in general. That is why the opening salvo of the American Revolution was called “the shot heard round the world.”
Autocratic rulers and their subjects heard that shot — and things that had not been questioned for millennia were now open to challenge. As the generations went by, more and more autocratic governments around the world proved unable to meet that challenge.
Some clever people today ask whether the United States has really been “exceptional.” You couldn’t be more exceptional in the 18th century than to create your fundamental document — the Constitution of the United States — by opening with the momentous words, “We the people…”
Those three words were a slap in the face to those who thought themselves entitled to rule, and who regarded the people as if they were simply human livestock, destined to be herded and shepherded by their betters. Indeed, to this very day, elites who think that way — and that includes many among the intelligentsia, as well as political messiahs — find the Constitution of the United States a real pain because it stands in the way of their imposing their will and their presumptions on the rest of us.
More than a hundred years ago, so-called “Progressives” began a campaign to undermine the Constitution’s strict limitations on government, which stood in the way of self-anointed political crusaders imposing their grand schemes on all the rest of us. That effort to discredit the Constitution continues to this day, and the arguments haven’t really changed much in a hundred years.
The cover story in the July 4th issue of Time magazine is a classic example of this arrogance. It asks of the Constitution: “Does it still matter?”
A long and rambling essay by Time magazine’s managing editor, Richard Stengel, manages to create a toxic blend of the irrelevant and the erroneous.
The irrelevant comes first, pointing out in big letters that those who wrote the Constitution “did not know about” all sorts of things in the world today, including airplanes, television, computers and DNA.
This may seem like a clever new gambit but, like many clever new gambits, it is a rehash of arguments made long ago. Back in 1908, Woodrow Wilson said, “When the Constitution was framed there were no railways, there was no telegraph, there was no telephone,”
In Mr. Stengel’s rehash of this argument, he declares: “People on the right and left constantly ask what the framers would say about some event that is happening today.”
Maybe that kind of talk goes on where he hangs out. But most people have enough common sense to know that a constitution does not exist to micro-manage particular “events” or express opinions about the passing scene.
A constitution exists to create a framework for government — and the Constitution of the United States tries to keep the government inside that framework.
From the irrelevant to the erroneous is a short step for Mr. Stengel. He says, “If the Constitution was intended to limit the federal government, it certainly doesn’t say so.”
Apparently Mr. Stengel has not read the Tenth Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
Perhaps Richard Stengel should follow the advice of another Stengel — Casey Stengel, who said on a number of occasions, “You could look it up.”
Does the Constitution matter? If it doesn’t, then your Freedom doesn’t matter.
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