Kicking The Can Down The Road

You’ve probably heard the saying “kick the can down the road.”  In fact it’s starting to appear in radio and TV ads. It’s becoming popular. Well, I’ve come to the conclusion the can has reached the end of the road.

How much longer can federal, state and local governments kick the can?  Most government entities are in dire straits. They’ve borrowed to pay for programs they couldn’t afford. Where did they get the money from, pensions and social security? They called it loans. The pension and social security funds have been exhausted to the point little money is left to meet future commitments. Once the money was borrowed it was never replaced, except by worthless IOU’s. Government cannot make up the lost funds. We now worry that this burden will be left to the next generation, our kids and grand kids. Ron Paul appropriately said, “We are the next generation.”  We’ve reached the end of the road. There is no money for government to meet its commitments. Government may be good at kicking the can down the road, but they certainly don’t know how to manage or fix problems.

Maybe governments have to stop spending. You spend only what you have and can afford. You create a budget and follow it. You create an environment where people get jobs. Stop supporting and sending jobs over seas. Why is GE closing U.S. plants and spending billions to create jobs in China? We need to start supporting U.S. companies. We need to make it profitable for companies to invest in America. Government has talked about energy independence for years. What have we received? Procrastination.

Government keeps supporting oil rich Arab countries. The president prefers to see Canada build a pipeline to supply China instead of the U.S. The president gives money to Brazil to support oil drilling so the Brazilians can sell oil to China. Is anyone paying attention?  Who is the president working for?

We need jobs and it’s getting clear that government is working against us.  Do you prefer receiving a government check each month or getting a job that pays you a salary? You can’t keep a country running on welfare checks. Jobs will kick start the economy. With jobs there will be a demand for goods, services and housing. You can’t tell me the U.S. can’t compete with China or any other country. We have the ingenuity and with the right leadership and motivation we can meet any objective. We don’t need a government that wants us to feel sorry for ourselves.

All entities of government need to start learning about controlling money. They need to learn how to squeeze the dollar to get more bang for the buck. You can’t have slush funds for coffee and rolls. They need to have specific missions and work to meet their objectives in an efficient and productive manner. If you can’t do the job, make room for someone who can. This is the way to get out of the hole.

What has happened to old fashioned accounting principles? In school I learned the importance of balancing accounts, checks and balances, auditing and ethical practices. Are these practices only for the private sector? We have regulations upon regulations for the private sector. What about the public sector? What has happened to reserves for banks, annual audits? If it’s good enough for the private sector, it should be good enough for governments. We used to back up our monetary system with gold, now we back it up with a printing press. Washington, Springfield, Chicago, and Cook County are all in debt.

Where were the accountants to oversee this travesty? Where was the use of good accounting practices and standards?  The overseers who authorized the use of funds they didn’t have should be in jail. If you finagle the books in the private sector you go to jail. There is no oversight, there is no accountability. Government books should be audited and certified each year, and after each audit there should be a published report presented to the public. The time has come to control the mismanagement of public monies. The time has come for government to be answerable to the taxpayers of this country.

Washington, Springfield, Chicago and Cook County have looked and keep looking for more taxes and fees to pay bills. It hasn’t worked. What’s happened is that they borrow more to pay interest on debt. It keeps mounting. They have no idea on how to solve monetary problems. They keep talking and do nothing. So how do they solve the problem, they talk some more. 

Maybe they should hire some intelligent people with a few brains to help them. I know we can’t send all politicians to jail, but we can start replacing them with competent, honest people who know how to manage money and solve problems. We need to know how the candidates will balance budgets and solve debt problems.  What are their answers to social security and pension shortfalls? We don’t need candidates answering questions about sugar cane subsidies or the TV shows they watch.

We’ve had enough talk. It's time for them to own up to their failures. They can’t kick the can down the road anymore, we won’t let them. Now’s the time to start kicking politicians down the road to oblivion.