AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR NATIONAL LEADERSHIP
(….tick tock….tick tock….tick tock….)

Mr. President, Senator Reid, Speaker Boehner:

Gentlemen,

You three are the respective pinnacles of political power in our country; and, with that power and authority, come your obligations to provide us with – leadership – especially in times of crisis such as we have today. Regrettably that is something none of you are displaying at this moment when it is so much needed.

Instead, you are all just indulging in playing politics at the expense of our nation and we, the taxpaying voters who lent you that power and authority in the first place, while maneuvering solely for your own political advantage in the coming 2012 elections.

Well, in plain Old-Army English…KNOCK IT OFF AND CUT THE CRAP! Our economic and fiscal condition is not just bad, these political gamesmanship routines of yours are rapidly letting it go right down the drain, unless you come to your senses and do what needs to be done before it ’ s too late.

I don’t know about anyone else out there in taxpayer country, but, we….who’ve fought, bled, and died for duty, honor, and country, would consider that the world’s worst case of outright betrayal, if not treason. It would mean that all the sacrifices of our forefathers, all of the sacrifices of those serving out country today, have been, and are….in vain. Such thoughts, gentlemen, not only leave a very, very bitter taste in our mouths, but also raise a horrifying question in our minds – What the hell have any of us ever served for ? – and that, would be the bitterest pill of all because it would mean we’ve all wasted our lives….for nothing.

So what’s to be done? First of all, it’s time to set aside all political considerations, all ideological perspectives, and consider common sense and pragmatic solutions instead. In that spirit, and for what they’re worth, kindly consider the following recommendations for positive action that might resolve these problems:

1)     Mr. President, kindly convoke the Congress into an emergency joint-session during which both Chambers  will be required to agree that any resolutions from that will immediately be binding on all parties, and will be confirmed by you without further delay.

2)    Senator Reid and Speaker Boehner, you will both endorse calling for such an emergency joint-session, and require all members to be present for it, with no exceptions.

3)    The proposed resolutions will offer the following:

a)    As an indication of leadership by example, starting with the Presidency, all Cabinet level officials, all member of the Senate, and all members of the House, as their share of sacrifice in these trying times, an across the board 10% reduction in pay and allowances will be voted for these. That reduction will remain in place through Fiscal Year 2016. All savings resulting from that will be applied solely towards the reduction of our national debt.

b)    Concurrently, whatever the gross annual General Revenues might be, the first item of expense from those will be a 5% set aside, before any other expenditures are made or programmed for. That is, 3% will be applied against the national debt, and 2% will be applied to accrue further bullion assets, as collateral against our debt. This will remain in force until those assets reach 50% of the total national debt figure. Currently, this is close to $15 Trillion, thus, the Treasury must achieve no less than $7.5 Trillion in such bullion collateral value.

c)    Co-mingling of disparate revenues as part of our General Revenues will no longer be permitted. General Revenues only derive from – Individual Income Taxes, Corporate/Business Taxes, Customs and Excise Taxes, and Miscellaneous Revenues (from fines, fees, etc.). Social Security revenues will be excluded since these are derived from separate payroll taxes. Medicare revenues will also be excluded since these also are derived from both separate payroll taxes, and retirees premiums. Both will be required to present their own financial reports.

d)    Any annual deficits occurring hereafter will be distributed proportionately between the three branches of government, and further within each of these in a similar manner, down to the lowest budgetary units. The result of that will diffuse such a deficit throughout the entire structure of the government rather than against any single program or line item, thereby minimizing any negative impacts on any particular aspect of a fiscal year’s appropriations. In effect, such an approach will establish a self-regulating process against deficit spending.

e)    All budgetary units of the government, starting with its three main branches, will be required to publish a quarterly financial statement showing  the following:

• Unit direct operating expenses costs ( in both dollars and % of total)
• Funded programs (in both dollars and % of total)
• Unfunded obligations/programs (in both dollars and % of total)
• All of that in a Balance Sheet and P/L format.

This should provide a greater degree of transparency in our budgetary and fiscal affairs.

Something along these lines should go a long way towards restoring not only our own confidence in the “full faith and credit” of our government, but that of the rest of the world as well. It will show that we are serious about cleaning up and straightening out our financial affairs.

In that regard, there should be a serious examination of the proportionate contributions being made to our Genera Revenues by the various sources of it. In particular the great disparity between Individual and Corporate contributions to it should be adjusted to a more balanced ratio. If the following figures are to be believed, Individual taxes contribute some $1.1 Trillion, whereas Corporate taxes only contribute some $365 Billion. Something is seriously out of whack here. This suggests not that corporate taxation rates are inadequate, but that the allowable exclusions and deductions system needs some serious review.

In conclusion, if such measures were adopted more or less as proposed here; then, the immediacy of our debt limit problem could be reduced. But if that were not enough in the extremely short time frame left to us to act, then a debt limit increase to $16 Trillion could be made acceptable, if all of these other provisions were enacted.

I’m just an old up-through-the-ranks soldier, gentlemen, and not an economist or financial expert (I usually have to take my boots off to count to twenty), but from a common sense perspective, many of the above items seem perfectly feasible to me, since they reflect many thoughts and ideas expressed by experts in those fields. So kindly consider them. We only have a few weeks left before we find ourselves going off a cliff….and few of us have any of your golden parachutes, or otherwise, to avoid crashing on the economic rocks waiting down below.

W. R.Taylor
Capt- USAR (ret)

(aka) CENTURION