Eat your Vegtables; Save your Money

Most of us heard over and over as we were growing up the importance of eating our vegetables and saving money. We heard it from our parents, most likely we also heard it from our grandparents. It was good counsel as our elders wanted us to grow up with good, solid health and financial habits. As we read in the paper these days, some of us followed this advice, but many did not.

The Federal Government has also given us a myriad of financial tips and advise over the years. Live within your means, save 10% of what you make, pay your bills on time and so on. However, the Government, unlike our parents, is a hypocrite. Everything the Federal Government has told us to do financially, they have done the opposite. For example, living within your means. If the Federal Government lived within their means, there would be no yearly deficit or accumulated debt. Our national debt has been bad in the past, but is totally out of control now. If every family in this country spend considerably more than they took in as income (like the Federal Government does), everyone would be bankrupt.

In most families, if monthly expenses exceed earned income, expenses are cut back. Some families who can cut back no further might take a second job to bring in more income. The Federal Government on the other hand, never cuts back on expenses - the cost of government just keeps on growing every year. The solution suggested by some is for the Federal Government to take the equivalent of a second job - raise taxes. When taxes have been raised to the breaking point, borrowing money and printing more money is the next step. Unlike a family going bankrupt, our country now has a recessed economy and staggering debt.

How about savings? After we have been told to save 10% of our money, the Federal Government has nothing in the coffers - per our President, we are dead broke. We spend faster than we can print it. The result of this reckless spending has resulted in the dollar continuously slipping against the Yen and Euro. It is so bad that John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign said "I would say our country is spending like drunken sailors, except I don't want to offend drunken sailors".

We need to have RESPONSIBLE people running our government that act as good stewards with our hard earned tax dollars. We need to use micro-economics in managing our national financial affairs rather than macro-economics. If we can't persuade the current crowd in Washington D. C. to financially run our country like a large family rather than a monopoly game, we need to throw the bums out and quickly. We owe our children no less.

.