America is broke. Wall Street is going out of business. The government is borrowing and bailing like there is no tomorrow. Americans anxiously await the full impact of a second Great Depression. And we all are longing and looking for solutions and saviors.
Who will deliver us from our certain financial despair and ruin? The president? The secretary of the Treasury? The Federal Reserve? Congress? An ad hoc committee of Harvard MBAs? Some of America's best and biggest financial moguls? A new president? Have no fear. Our Founders are here.
It's true that we can't repeat the past eight years of government. But it's even truer that we can't repeat the past 38 years of the government's financial mismanagement, especially when only four of them since 1970 haven't been deficit-building years. What we need is to turn back the financial clock 200 years and return to the fiscal prudence of our Founding Fathers.
With small variances, our Founders agreed on five basic approaches to fiscal management, which I describe in far more detail in the third chapter ("Stop America's nightmare of debt") of my new New York Times best-seller (as of the list of Sept. 28), "Black Belt Patriotism," in which I resolve eight major problems facing America with our Founders' solutions. If we're going to awaken America from its economic slumber, then we must go back to those who discovered and established the American dream. Their financial principles were:
—Restrict spending within constitutional limits. The 10th Amendment restricts the size of government, and that always should bear out in spending and the federal budget. That means cutting hundreds of billions the Fed shouldn't be spending. That means following congressional protocol. That means understanding that income and export taxes were unconstitutional to our Founders.
—Don't bail out debt with more debt. George Washington wrote in 1799 to James Welch, "To contract new debts is not the way to pay for old ones." Thomas Jefferson similarly admonished Samuel Kercheval in 1816, "To preserve (the) independence (of the people), we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt." (Some are quick to point out that Thomas Jefferson financed the Louisiana Purchase with government loans, but they overlook the fact that Jefferson's administration lowered the federal deficit by nearly one-third during his eight years in office.)
—Have a pay-as-you-go government. If we don't have the money, we shouldn't spend it.
Period. No more debt. No more bailouts. No more spending. As Thomas Jefferson wrote to Fulwar Skipwith in 1787, "The maxim of buying nothing but what we (have) money in our pockets to pay for … (is) a maxim which, of all others, lays the broadest foundation for happiness."
—Minimize taxes to citizens. Our earliest government's primary tool to raise revenue was from tariffs, not through the countless taxes placed upon citizens today. That is one reason I say to abolish the unconstitutional Internal Revenue Service and implement a "fair tax," which doesn't penalize productivity and will bring American manufacturing back within our borders. As James Madison said in 1783: "Taxes on consumption are always least burdensome because they are least felt and are borne, too, by those who are both willing and able to pay them; that of all taxes on consumption, those on foreign commerce are most compatible with the genius and policy of free states."
—Get over the greed. We're in this financial mess because of greed. Why is government spending out of control? Greed. Why do we, as individuals and as a nation, keep falling deeper into a pit of debt? Greed. Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the Treasury, believed that a government that could use greed to motivate its people would become powerful and wealthy. Unfortunately, we've taken it to the extreme. We've become a nation that confuses our needs and greeds, and we've got to get back to the basics if we're ever to understand and overcome the heart of this financial crisis.
Call me altruistic; say the plan is oversimplified. But even mom always taught me when I was young, "If you get in a pinch, go back to the basics." It works in martial arts. It works in the movies. It works in marriage. It works in financial markets. And it worked for our Founding Fathers.
What we need today are far more men and women in government with our Founders' financial forethought, cautiousness and discipline. But that is not what we have. That is why I've joined the voter revolution across this land to oust political corruption and stalemate. If you're ready to join millions of other Americans in that commitment, then give me three steps: Make a pledge to bring about political change in future elections; recall unconstitutional congressional incumbents; and rise up and elect above-reproach, non-greedy and selfless representatives who aren't afraid to stand up to governmental status quo and corruption, will vote for constitutional restrictions of government, reduce big government (deficits, budgets, spending and taxes), reform the tax code (by providing a "fair tax" or its equivalent) and fight for a constitutional amendment that would mandate a balanced federal budget.
To find out more about Chuck Norris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2008 CHUCK NORRIS
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
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4 Comments | Post Comment
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Sir; what is this... Some kind of voodoo chop suey economics? You see the problem, maybe. You see that there is a problem, and you look around for solutions, never taking the time to read the only man who understood capitalism because he was the dirtiest communist of all. Look at it for a moment. These people are dealing with a frozen capital market. Why would that be? They all let on that capital came into being fully formed like a little homonuclus, and every after has bred itself and reproduced itself. They never tell the truth -that capital has always been theft or excess labor taken from the one it belonged too, and made into capital. But everyone wants a piece of that pie. That is why people are always looking for help, and never looking for capitalists. Labor creates value, -something a capitalist never tells you. To him, capital is the source of value because with it, he can hire labor. Why don't you tell the truth? Every country needs enough people working and enough of land and sunshine and rain to support itself. We still have the land, in private hands, much of it producing nothing, and the rest being drained of profit. We have too few of jobs, necessary jobs, that actually create some value rather than only providing a service. When too much of your jobs and capital leave the country and you import everything, your wealth goes the way of your jobs. Why not stop that process? Who can stop what capital wants when we have the government of capital? Money talks in Washington D.C... I mean, money decides who is going to get elected, and money decides how people will vote when elected, and it is perfectly legal according to the Supreme Court. So if capital has the government of its dreams and we have only our pleadings, why can't they fix their problem on their own, and why are they using the government to rob us all, either through taxes on income or by inflating the currancy??? Either way, it is the people who support capital, make capital and serve capital. After giving it profit all our lives are we supposed to give it the whole country, the government, and our futures lock stock and barrel??? Trust me on this. The founding fathers did not get it right. They thought greed would give birth to virtue. They were as wrong as those who thought capital gives birth to capital. For that, you need markets and labor. We are not a good market living on credit. And there are not enough jobs for labor to create anything but more misery for itself. Jefferson was right. No one wants to change their form. We need a new form of relationship none the less...Thanks...Sweeney
Comment: #1
Posted by: James A, Sweeney
Tue Sep 23, 2008 5:24 AM
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I put this on WND Digg but worth repeating here, slightly edited
Chuck, you've said modestly that you aren't a scholar. However, I think you are fast becoming a leading authority on America's current troublous times and I pray for the continued effectiveness of your ministry in this respect. That the UK suffers from the same financial woes as the US may be evident from a note I posted to a British blog recently, which I don't think anyone over here would take issue with. For pounds, shillings and pence, you will get the drift OK if you simply read dollars, dimes and cents. The ROE isn't important, the message is. (Most of you probably know that Charles Dickens, 1812-1870, remains perhaps England's foremost novelist and his semi-autobiographical work David Copperfield (his initials reversed) is probably still his best-known work.
"Re: finances, the limits of my understanding...are as follows, from David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, Chapter 11:
""Mr. Micawber...solemnly conjured me, I remember, to take warning by his fate; and to observe that if a man had twenty pounds a year for his income, and spent nineteen pounds nineteen shillings and six pence, he would be happy, but that if he spent twenty pounds one [shilling] he would be miserable."
"A pity Mr Micawber can't solemnly conjure our current eCONomic leaders."
Comment: #2
Posted by: Alan O'Reilly
Wed Sep 24, 2008 2:46 PM
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I'm surprised I agree with a McCain supporter when there is no way in Hell I would support McCain. I suggest Chuck rethink who he is.
Comment: #3
Posted by: Marc Cherbonnier
Sun Sep 28, 2008 7:21 AM
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Chuck
Your words strike a chord with me. Our freedom is being hijacked by pretentious, self-serving people who think they are right by making everyone else wrong. These fools are most dangerous when elected into our national legislature and allowed to torture the masses, many of whom have no clue, and others that are exasperated by the continuing decadent path we are on. Interestingly, I chose to join Team National in May thinking that it was an interesting concept of saving money and earning income through an optional referral program. I didn't realize it at the time, but Team National was an option to controlling investments that I have to make and keeping it at arm's length where I can trust it. Everyone I have met in the program, is aware of the dangerous economic times that are evolving and we have the security of an organization whose principles can lead us through the storm. Team National is a network marketing vehicle that encourages its members to be responsible for their lives and share this responsibility with others. At a recent national event in Orlando, the theme was honor, integrity and leadership. One speaker added generosity to the message. I invite anyone, who wants to return to some type of fiscal sanity in this country and take back our country from the insidious band of self-righteous boobs, to take a look at the Team National organization, run by National Companies, and contact me for more information. Tmanos@medscape.com
Thank you
Comment: #4
Posted by: Ted E. Manos M.D.
Mon Oct 13, 2008 1:35 AM
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