The Fiscal Cliff of 2013

     The Fiscal Cliff is a slang term conceived by Ben Bernanke for the Budget Control Act of 2011. Why would anyone be against much needed budget control for the United States? Rather, why would anyone be for an out of control Budget legislation?  Regardless, the Budget Control Act of 2011 was APPROVED and SIGNED INTO LAW by President Obama in August 2011 to end the Congressional battle over raising the government debt ceiling.  The Act was a compromise between Democrats and Republicans on economic policies while temporarily increasing the debt ceiling. They agreed to implement by law, if no other deal was reached before Dec. 31, massive government spending cuts as well as tax increases. For the middle class taxpayers of America, this reality makes up the Fiscal Cliff. So much for campaign promises.

     Here is the problem with the U.S. budget. A silent monster looms menacingly over U.S. government finances and grows larger every year. Politicians know about it, but very few of them ever want to talk about it. The name of this monster is "entitlements" - Social Security, Medicare and other social Ponzi schemes that the U.S. government has locked itself into funding. Why are these entitlements under fire? It is the baby boomers. Starting in 2011, TEN THOUSAND baby boomers celebrate their 65^th birthday every day and the trend continues for the next TWENTY plus years.  Those who have closely analyzed this monster all seem to agree that one day it will create a Financial Tsunami of a magnitude that is absolutely unprecedented, but there is vast disagreement about how to escape this Financial Tsunami or if it is even possible to escape it.  Yet, here we are.

     We most often hear about the alarming $15.96 trillion national debt and the 2012 budget deficit of $1.1 trillion (Fiscal Cliff). As dangerous as those numbers are, they do not begin to tell the story of the federal government's true liabilities. The actual liabilities of the federal government—including Social Security, Medicare, and federal employees' future retirement benefits (Fiscal Tsunami)—already exceed $86.8 TRILLION (according to an article by Mr. Cox, a former chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee and the Securities and Exchange Commission, is president of Bingham Consulting LLC. Mr. Archer, a former chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, is a senior policy adviser at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP). For the year ending Dec. 31, 2011, the annual accrued expense of Medicare and Social Security was $7 trillion. 

     By 2020, these entitlement programs will be up around 100 cents of every dollar of federal revenue.  That means the interest on the debt and spending on entitlement programs will eat up everything the U.S. government takes in before a penny is spent on anything else (according to a report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office).  It would be hard to understate the seriousness of the problem that entitlements present.

     This Budget Control Act of 2011 is not nearly enough.  In reality, that would amount to bailing out the Pacific Ocean with a tablespoon. Frankly, it is hard to imagine any responsible argument for uncontrollable 2012 budget spending of funds we simply do not have. Therefore, we have only two possible outcomes, Fiscal Cliff or Fiscal Tsunami. The Cliff is not enough and the Tsunami is more than we could possibly bear.  Neither of which is acceptable for the country to achieve any kind of financial recovery.  It is, by any stretch of the imagination, a recipe for national financial suicide. This established order is not working.   

Excerpt from For Our Children:

     “You want to cut government spending and raise taxes,” Brian said.

     “That’s never worked,” President John Henry pointed out. “We have to increase revenue and cut expenses for the American people, the Middle Class. Increase their incomes and reduce their cost of living.”

     “Turnaround the Middle Class,” Brian questioned.

     “In simplest terms, we’re drowning in an ocean of credit card debt and we can no longer make our minimum payments. Much like many Americans, this too is our enemy. Of course, we could get more credit or print more money to prolong the end. Either way nothing is fixed, nothing has changed. We have mortgaged our future for the greed of today. We must think and act anew, then stand firm. We will reinvent our system, economy, and our lives because this established order is not working,” President John Henry said.

 

Get it NOW at Amazon.com. 

Hardcopy, softcopy, or special 99 cent Kindle version.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=for+our+children+a+dialogue+of+the+american+dream

November 6th, 2012

The following is an excerpt from For Our Children.

     President Samuel Adams was there, as well. This is the way he told it, “If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” Be grateful for the world left specifically for you. It is fragile, to say the least.  It is with sincere regard that I pose these questions to you. Is it the journey or the prize you seek? What do your children mean to you? Are you one of us? I have answered your prayers, but your destiny is still in play. There are more sacrifices to be made, more deeds to be done. The world is far from safe. Therefore, never forget the words Mr. Kennedy challenged you with, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

     When I was a very young boy, my parents asked me a very important question.  I did not realize it at the time, but it was a question that would define my behavior for a lifetime.  They said, “If your friends all jumped off a cliff, would you follow them?”  Sound familiar?  I replied with a simple, Of course not.  Little did I know that would stay with me to this day?  Now on this day, America voted for a President of the United States.  It seems that a far greater number of citizens prefer the idea of free things, handouts, and, in fact, socialism than do the idea of being free and self-sufficient.  My response to that social movement of citizenship is, Of course not.  I will never succumb to the gifts of tyrants.  I choose freedom. I choose America.  I choose Samual Adams.  We are and will always be the light of the world. (Matthew 5: 14-16)  

For Our Children is available at Amazon.com for your Kindle or Iphone at the price of a snickers bar...99 cents.  http://www.amazon.com/Our-Children-Dialogue-American-ebook/dp/B009ZSW56K/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352338123&sr=1-1&keywords=for+our+children+a+dialogue

BarnesandNoble.com has the paperback and hard copy versions, as well.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/for-our-children-tracy-john-mollenkopf-mba/1113630165?ean=9781449771102

 

What is the United State's role in the World?

The excerpt below is from the novel, For Our Children. The President of the United States, John Henry, is making a speech to end the economic oppression that is crippling the country. 

     “Ladies and Gentleman of the United States of America, I would like to welcome you on this most important of days,” John began. “For over two hundred years, freedom has been the right of every person and the future of every nation. It is the very nature of man to yearn to live free. But on this July 4th, freedom belongs with God. It’s his gift to humanity and America’s great responsibility to protect it. This is who we are in our world.” John points to a man in the balcony.

     “Sven Haugen, would you stand, please, for everyone to see you,” John asked. “Show your arms and let them see what the scars of oppression really look like.” Sven stood and pulled up his sleeves. He is not a young man. His face is weathered from living a hard life. His hands and arms have scars from years of torture and manual labor. Yet, there seems to be an inner peace about him that transcends his outward appearance. He smiled a particularly warm smile that exuded happiness rarely found in most men. You might say he is content with his world. That's more than most men can say.
     “Sven’s life began in Romania,” John announced. “When he was sixteen years old, a science teacher in his school told him about the creation of the world. Sven believed that God created the world and he said so. He read that in the Bible. Later that day, the secret police escorted him out of school. His parents were told he would be leaving them for a while. Sven spent the next eighteen months in a Romanian prison. He slept on a concrete floor, had an open window with bars that could not stop the freezing winds, and was routinely tortured with electric shock and cigarette burns to his hands and arms.” Sven still standing, nods his head in approval.
     “After eighteen months, he was released. He fled his homeland to Italy where he was hunted. He escaped to Germany but they didn’t want him, either. With no place to turn, only America would accept him. Today, he’s home.” 

     “Sven has lived the words from the Statue of Liberty,” John said. ‘Give us your poor; you’re tired, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Send these, the homeless, tempest-toss to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’ He's a free man in America because we allow people to escape a heartless world of tyranny and oppression.

     This is finally who we are, our role in this world, our destiny. I thank God for the opportunity to let us help you. Your life, your suffering makes us a stronger nation, for what we have to do.”

For Our Children

     The American Dream is said to be the material comfort of wealth and power, the opportunity for prosperity and success regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. Maybe it’s the notion that our social, economic, and political system makes success possible for every individual. I think not.
     I think the American Dream is more. It is rooted in the Declaration of Independence which admirably states that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights such as Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
     What about these conceits? Such things cannot be touched or obtained with money. They must be felt, experienced, and treasured. It’s the very nature of man to yearn to be free. Is this not the American Dream promised to us all?
     I am a Christian-American. I am an immigrant in a nation founded by immigrants. I live with one foot in this world and one in the next. Please, do not categorize me with labels of this world. It means nothing to me. I am an American Spirit. I am one of us.
     I am part of a miracle. America is an experiment in freedom the likes the world has never seen before. We have so much to be grateful for, so many advantages. However, miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again.
     Therefore, I have authored a novel to fight for the American Dream, to explore the current political, economic, and religious challenges of our day, politically to tell the life story of a President of the United States, John Henry, economically, his efforts to turn the country around and eliminate the sixteen trillion in debt, and religiously to answer the prayer of millions of our children and America's primary role in the world for our own salvation.
     This novel is called "For Our Children" and will be available for your kindle at BarnesandNoble.com and WestbowPublishing.com in November 2012.

Contact the Author

You may contact the Author:

Forourchildrennovel@gmail.com

I look forward to hearing from you,
Tracy Mollenkopf