Are you constantly amazed by our elected officials in Washington? It is like watching a bunch of Kindergartners throwing temper tantrums and pointing fingers at each other. Nobody seems to understand the real issue, and everyone is blaming someone else. Obviously, the issue is just too complex for our simple politicians.
Here is your chance to make a difference!! Just print out the letter below and send it off to your Representative or Senator. Don't worry, it has lots of pictures so they can understand. (And besides, they all have staffers who are literate and can read the letter to them.)
Dear Representative / Senator ____________________,
I heard on the news that you are having a tough time with this debt ceiling issue. I know how confusing these money discussions can be. I want to help. Just look at the pictures and explanations below, and I will explain everything you need to know. Good luck!
The United States Government collects money in taxes, and then spends it to pay for parks, and bridges, and soldiers, and medicine for poor people. Sometimes, the government spends more money than it actually has. This is just like when you have to borrow money from your big donor at home to pay for your limo rides and dinners out.
Because the US Government doesn't have donors and PACs, when the government spends too much money, it has to borrow more money by issuing bonds. The law says there is a limit to how much the Government can borrow, and we have now reached that amount. So, you need to do something to change what is happening, or the Government won't be able to buy anything (or pay you!).
(I know lots of people keep trying to tell you what to do or how to fix the issue. You have to be careful, because some of them are not being completely honest with you. But don't worry, this will be really simple.)
First, you need to realize that the Government has just spent too much money. The picture below shows how much money the Government has taken in each year, and how much it has spent. You can see that this year, the spending is almost twice as much as the amount of money coming in. (This picture is from the Heritage Foundation. They have lots of cool charts like this.)
Now, I know Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid keep trying to tell you that is because of cutting taxes on the rich. Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid are lying to you. The tax cuts happened in the picture back where the red line is above the blue line. See how the red line went down and up and down again? There were no more tax cuts during that time. The downs are caused by recessions -- I will explain recessions to you in a later letter.
The important thing to notice from the picture is that in the last 50 years, revenue has gone up 300% (that is a lot!), but spending has gone up 500% (that is too much!). The difference this year is $1.62 Trillion, which is more than the government spent in total in 1985.
I know lots of your friends in Congress keep telling you that you can't cut "Entitlements" to solve the money problem. (They are called entitlements because lots of spoiled people think they deserve to have everything paid for them, and throw loud temper tantrums when they don't get the money.) Your friends who say you can't cut Entitlements are liars too. If you look at the picture below, you will see that Interest (you have to pay for the debt that already exists) and the Entitlements together are still more than the total revenue this year.
That means that even if you stop ALL OTHER spending, you would still need to borrow money. All that other spending includes the Air & Space Museum you like to visit, and those nice people at airport security that give you a pat down, and all those people that developed the new "Plate" to replace the food pyramid. It also would mean firing every last soldier, sailor, and flyer, and closing all our military bases tomorrow. (You wouldn't get to ride in a jet or visit an aircraft carrier again.) And even if you cut all of that, we would still be short. So, you have to cut some of those "Entitlements".
You have probably heard Mr. Obama tell you that the rich aren't paying their fair share. He wants you to raise the taxes on those big, bad money-grubbing rich people. (I know you think the President walks on water, but I promise that was just an illusion. He is just a normal guy.) And when he tells you the rich aren't doing their part, he is lying too. Just look at this picture.
As you can see, the top 10% of money earners are paying 70% of the personal federal income taxes. The bottom 50% of earners pay less than 3% of the total income taxes. (And in fact, 49% of households in the United States pay NO federal income taxes!)
Ms. Pelosi and Mr Reid will tell you that the taxes look this way because the rich just make so much more to start with. They say the tax code needs to be more progressive. ("Progressive" is pronounced "Stick it to anyone that makes more money than you.") When Ms. Pelosi tells you this, she is being a big fat liar. The next picture shows the reality.
As you can see, each group that earns more pays a higher percentage of personal federal income tax. (And this is what they ACTUALLY paid, not what the tax bracket says. The rich don't have so many tax breaks that they don't pay anything. I know other Democrats keep saying the rich get out of taxes all together, but you can just tell them "Liar, Liar, pants on fire!") The top earners pay a percentage that is NINE TIMES higher than the lowest half of the earners.
To be fair, this is just the federal personal income tax (the one those meanies over in the IRS building keep asking about). Congress has come up with lots of other creative ways to collect money, including Payroll taxes, gas taxes, excise taxes, import duties, fees, and lots of other ways to steal collect money. Those other taxes are not "progressive". But, that is not the topic for today's discussion. (I can send you another letter if you decide you want to learn about tax reform.)
I know this has gotten to be a long letter, so I will summarize it all for you again:
The Government's piggy bank is empty.It is empty because Congress is spending WAY more than it is collecting.
In fact, Congress is spending more on "Entitlements" than it is collecting in total.
The rich people already pay more than their share of income taxes.
Most politicians, including Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Reid, and Mr. Obama are lying to you.
If you want to keep getting a paycheck, you need to cut entitlement spending now!
I hope this letter helps you. Don't forget you need to get the spending cuts passed this week, so make sure to take care of that before your next round of golf. Email me if you need any more help. (But please, no more twitpics.)
Thanks,
____________
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