Ah, Greece. So much history. So much beauty. So much failure.

I don't know about you, but when my family puts together a budget, we have to make absolute sure of ONE thing: more money cannot go out than comes in. It's that simple. This rule is not up for debate. If we don't follow this rule, we will not be able to keep our home, our car, our kids, etc. We have to either make more money, spend less money, or some combination of the two.

Every responsible family is held to these same standards. Every profitable business is held to these standards. Churches are even held to this simple math. So why then isn't our Government? If a family cannot sustain itself outside of a balanced budget, a business collapses without it, and even a church is forced to disband if they cannot balance income and expenses, how is it that our government can do it?

The answer is scary, but is not without a simple solution. A very simple solution. After all, it's basic math. We're taught it all the way back in primary school. The answer is that the government CANNOT sustain itself either.

Example: GREECE.

Greece is a beautiful country to visit, I'm sure. But Greece is a Socialist nation and as we all know, they are in the middle of a full economic collapse, violant riots, and financial bail outs right now (much of which AMERICA is directly paying for). So their government has an endless list of entitlement programs (expenses) and no incentive for individuals or businesses to make more money (so they are not increasing income through taxation). More going out than coming in is bad. Some think that a tax INCREASE will fix this math ....... uh, Greece already has an average personal tax rate that is over 33% HIGHER than here in the United States!!!

Now take a look back at that description of Greece.

The description of the United States is not so different. High personal taxes, even higher corporate taxes, huge amounts of expenses tied up in entitlement programs, and less and less incentives for American businesses to create jobs. This all leads to higher unemployment, a higher burden on the entitlement programs to support the unemployed, higher taxes to support the entitlement programs, MORE job losses so employers can afford the higher taxes that support the entitlement programs for the unemployed ..... UH-OH. Anyone catch what just happened there. We just created a self-destructing circle. When that happens, something in the circle has to change. If nothing changes, self-destruction occurs.

Cause and effect is inevitable. I know our current President and his administration (and other POTUS's before him by the way) seem to think that their decisions are immune from the cause and effect principle that guides the rest of us, but they are not. You cannot effect one thing without it effecting another - and so on and so on .... Think back to school and the "ecosystem". Better yet, think back to "The Lion King" and "The circle of Life". In other words, like it or not, we are all in this thing together. You impact me. I impact you.

So higher personal taxes (more income for the government), is NOT the answer. Just look at Greece.

Some would argue that corporate taxes are the problem and that America is not collecting enough in taxes from it's businesses ....... WRONG. Corporate taxes in the US are tied with Japan for the highest in the world!!!!!

More entitlement programs is NOT the answer. Do I really need to explain that any further?

Printing money is NOT the answer. Eeventually the countries that lend us money will want to be re-paid. Not to mention, printing too much money can cause severe inflation and devalue the dollar to the point of bankruptcy.

Quick recap: taxing the people doesn't save you, so stop leaning on the wealthy to support everyone (eventually, the rich run out of money and then what?). Corporate taxes can't save you, so stop demonizing the very companies that are there to provide us with income!!! Entitlement programs, no matter how much you tax the country, cannot sustain themselves. One fact about entitlement programs that is undeniable: if there is a "free ride" being offered, the ride will be full and it will have a long line of people waiting to get on it!! And obviously we cannot just continue to borrow money from other countries so we can print more of it.

We are doomed ......

Ah, but I haven't talked about the other half of the equation: the spending. We are spending too much. No question about that. We have got to cut back on spending. Surely THAT will save us, right? Not by itself it won't. We could cut down spending by Billions and 10's and 100's of Billions and it will NOT save us. The reason it won't save us is because businesses are being sent a message by our government that they are not welcome here. That's why so many jobs are being shipped overseas. If businesses continue to leave and we continue to lose jobs, we are just spinning around in that self-destructing circle we talked about.

In short, THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT SAVE US. So who can?

The short answer is this: WE MUST SAVE OURSELVES. Yes, DRASTICALLY cut down on spending. Also, encourage our people and businesses to make money by penalizing us LESS (lower taxes on all fronts) and creating an enviroment where businesses will want to create jobs HERE IN AMERICA. Hand in hand with this, our borders MUST be protected from illegal immigrants who are STEALING the few jobs that we have!! Lastly, this world made it centuries and centuries without a single entitlement program. We can survive without them again if we put our minds to it. Family, Church, and community will take on these responsibilities WILLINGLY if the Government just gets out of the way. The government has to shrink itself and hide in the corner if WE THE PEOPLE are to take this country back again. The private sector needs the confidence to create jobs. Jobs will give consumers the confidence to spend. Spending money that we actually have will balance things out again. DEBT, whether it's the government or the individual, MUST BE STOPPED.

So, the answer is simple - spend less than you make. The commitment needed to make a difference, "Live within your means", is not so simple. "I want it all and I want it now" is the cultural hurdle that keeps us from making the sacrifices needed to financially balance our lives and country. WE have to make sacrifices if WE are going to save this country.

Stop mooching off the government, stop voting corrupt people into government, stop living beyond your financial means, stop "playing the victim", and start holding YOURSELF accountable for your decisions. Become active in local and regional politics. Be knowledgable of what impact "cause and effect" has on every level of our financial world. In other words, play a productive role in the circle of life. BE AN EXAMPLE.

the Patriot