It's Your Move, Mr. President

The American people voted to retain Barack Obama.  Fine.  It has been settled -- time to move on.  Let's consider this fun fact first, from CNN:

Barring serious efforts to curb the growth in the country's debt, by 2020 Washington could be spending 92 cents of every tax dollar on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest alone. That would leave just 8 cents to pay for everything else.

Wonderful.  Eight cents.  I want the liberals to explain how this is going to work.  And please, in the name of all things sacred, don't give me Barack Obama bull about the wealthy folks "paying a little more."  You can double the tax rate of the top ten percent of wage earners, and it doesn't even begin to address the problem.  Are the liberals going to bite the bullet and start cutting from Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security?  Perhaps, but it doesn't seem likely. 

Keep in mind that I haven't even spoken about ObamaCare.  We have no idea how much that program is going to cost.  Some people say that the program will actually save us money in the long run.  Yes, and magical fairies may appear and turn all our weeds into rosebushes.  How many federal governmental programs can you speak of that save money?  Anyone?  Hello?  McFly?

During the campaign, President Obama said that he wanted to create 100,000 jobs for math and science teachers.  One can make the rational argument that the federal government has no role in the creation or hiring of teachers, but let's ignore that for a second.  If my math is correct, and if you get each teacher at a bargain-basement price of $30,000 a year, the cost is 3 billion dollars.  Just where is that money going to come from?  And what happens in the second year?  Does the federal government continue picking up the tab, or does it transfer the obligations to the states and school districts?  Can they afford that?  Can the federal government afford that?

The federal government is expected to add approximately one trillion dollars to the federal deficit in the next year.  That will put us at over 17 trillion dollars of debt.  How are we going to deal with that?  Does the president have any idea?  Do people of the liberal persuasion have any intention of addressing the problem?  You know, and I know, and everyone knows that liberals owe a great deal of their electoral success to the concept of "spreading the wealth around."  Well, we are at a point where Sugar Daddy is almost dead.  What are you going to do?  Buehler?  Buehler?

Just suppose, and I know this is a crazy thought, that other countries begin to get a little worried about buying our debt.  I mean, you could hardly blame them -- we are giving every indication that we have little resolve in solving our debt problem.  So what do you do then?  Do you raise the interest rate on our bonds to attract buyers, creating an even larger interest payment that we are obligated to pay?  Or do you just create more false money with a few keystrokes on your computer, thereby running a huge risk of runaway inflation?  Liberals, does the Weimar Republic ring a bell with you at all?  Even if inflation doesn't rise to catastrophic levels, which is a big if, you still are imposing a hidden tax on the American people that is going to hurt the economy.  Sounds like trouble.  Mr. President, are you going to do anything that seriously addresses this problem?  You might really make your base very angry.  Are you willing to make some tough choices?

I know that military spending isn't a terribly big priority in liberal circles, but there are questions I have to ask.  Are you going to gut our military to pay for your social programs?  It is a very simple question that deserves an answer.  Either liberals are serious about the debt problem or they are not.  So, where do you propose that the majority of cuts come from?  The entitlement programs, which will put your re-election chances at risk, or the military?  I know it's a tough choice.  I'll give you a second or two.

While you think, consider this: the United States has been the defender of the free world for a long, long time.  Perhaps you think it is time for that role to end.  Okay, you are the boss.  Cut military spending to the bone; I'm sure that will make you a hero at your next cocktail party with the intelligentsia.  The problem is that the world will not exist in a vacuum.  If the United States retreats from the world stage, someone else is going to fill that void.  Who might that be?  The Chinese?  Radical Islamists?  An unknown threat?

Liberals always speak loudly about rights.  The rights of women.  The rights of gays.  Please tell me, if the United States is no longer around, do you think the next power is going to be extremely receptive to either women or gays?  That is something to ponder, now, isn't it?  Any answers?  Wow, I hear crickets!

Perhaps you think I am being unfair.  In a way, I suppose I am.  To my shame, people of my own party have been adding to the debt for far too long, and I hold them accountable as well.  But no one has spent money like Barack Obama; it is unprecedented in American history.  Now the country turns its gaze directly on the president of the United States.  What are you goiung to do?  You won a second term; now lead us.  Make some decisions.  Try to fix the problem.  You have a responsibility to do this.

I, for one, will be watching very, very carefully to see what you do.  If you do anything meaningful at all.

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