That's Responsibility?

So, a week ago, I actually had hope. I heard President Obama talking about how he was going to trim the Federal Government's budget whether it made him a one term President or not. And I thought to myself, "Maybe we've actually got someone who will balance the budget and truly cut spending."

Then I heard the details.

Despite the cover which declares it is "Responsible," it is anything but. See, in the first year, he's proposing a $1 Trillion deficit. Over the next few years the deficit will decrease until it is around $500 Billion about the time President Obama is up for reelection. Then it starts to go up again. A decade from now, it will be around $800 billion. For one year!

Now I'm not even going to get into the ins and outs of whether his numbers are realistic or whether the savings are truly savings. I'll let those who are read it better deal with that.

But how can continually borrowing hudge amounts of money be responsible? I'd like to try this for a few years. I'll just spend money on whatever I want. Then, when the bills come due, I'll just borrow to pay for them. That works in the real world, right?

The only responsible thing for our government to do is actually cut spending to match what they actually take in. And pay down the debt. There is a finite supply of money. And if we keep spending money like we are, we will cease to exhist as a nation.

I have been thinking of this quote for several months. "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." Thanks to Mike Janke, I remember it was from Benjamin Franklin. But it is accurately depicting the outcome for our nation.

And before anyone jumps on me, yes I know that Bill Clinton actually managed to balance the budget. As much as I didn't like him as President, that is one thing that made me happy. And one reason I was getting frustrated with President Bush was how imbalanced the budget was getting.

Now, if only we could get truly responsible people in office things would be so much better.