According to recent surveys, the economy is one of the most important factors for many voters in this year’s Presidential election. In Tuesday’s Republican Primary in Illinois, 8 out of every 10 voters cited economics issues as being the main issue behind their decision at the ballot box. Social issues like immigration, health care, and even abortion are secondary concerns in this election year.
There’s little doubt about it. The US economy is weak. Unemployment and under employment are affecting millions. The price of food has continued to rise over the past few years. The price of a gallon of gas is rapidly approaching $5.00 per gallon, making it difficult for those with jobs to afford to get to work. The US economy is in a tough spot.
But our economy has been and in tough spots before. Remember the 1970’s and its suffocating stagflation? The Great Depression of the 1930’s stands out as one of the low points in our country’s economic history. And there have been others. As a nation, we’ve faced economic adversity and we’ve always come out on top.
However, there’s something different this time around.
As a nation, we’ve passed the buck on hard decisions for a long time now. Politicians, whose primary concerns have been one of self-preservation in the political arena, have neglected their fiduciary responsibilities and have continued to spend money that our country simply doesn’t have. They’d rather say “Yes.” and get re-elected in the short term than to stand up and say “Wait! Our spending habits are crazy! We can’t keep doing this.”
I recently stumbled across a YouTube video that illustrates how the US government cannot balance its budget using discretionary spending. It’s impossible. Have a look.
While I don’t necessarily agree with all of the conclusions drawn by the makers of the video, it’s hard to argue with the way the figures add up, or rather don’t add up in this case.
PreppingToSurvive.com 
March 21, 2012 at 9:20 am
Like President Reagan’s economic policy? Conservatives like to forget that during his presidency the deficit skyrocketed. (This also happened during his term as governor). Republicans like to say that the Democratic Party is the party of “tax and spend.” True. There is only one thing worse, and that is a Party (Republican) which borrows and spends. There is only one time in that last fifty years that a serious attempt has been made to cut the deficit and that was when we had a Democratic as President and a Congress (both Senate and House) that was Republican. Think Clinton. There is a reason that the American People prefer gridlock.
March 22, 2012 at 7:59 am
Good point, Stan. I’m not a democrat or a republican. In fact, I don’t see a great deal of difference in their fiscal policies in the two most of the time. Rather than being elephants and donkeys, they are more like two different subspecies of the same animal.