Conserving $$

As a citizen of the USA, I try to stay informed on the issues of our day. Its part of the responsibility that we share for maintaining a democratic republic. Thomas Jefferson wrote long ago that an informed citizenry is essential to a functional democracy.

Now that the election dust has settled a bit, the Repubs are wanting to whip our Congress into some fiscal responsibility, and that is a good thing, within reason. The President had earlier set the groundwork for such a project, by appointing Mr. Bowles and Mr. Simpson to chair a commission to study possible strategies for balancing the budget, or at least getting the cumbersome wheels of congressional machinations turning in that direction.

I have been quite impressed with the Bowles/Simpson plan. I hope that the reps and senators can find a way to use it for our collective improvement. Their recommendations can be a good starting point for moving us toward timely austerity, which is important for the continuing health and functionality of our nation.

Now we hear of another plan that is set forth by Mr. Domenici and Ms. Rivlin, and it seems to have some promise, too. I'll not get into the details; I'll leave them for analysts more qualified than I to parse out the provisions therein.

But I couldn't help noticing right off the bat, this phrase "national sales tax."

Any sales tax is, of course, bad for business; so, on the face of it its the last thing we need in the present economic devolution. The repubs will not like it for that reason; the dems probably will disdain it because it hits the little guy, the everyman right in pocket every day.

On the other hand, that may be the optimum feature of a unversal sales tax: bearing the cost of fiscal responsibility is placed across the board, on everybody, every citizen. Maybe that's the way it should be, and its definitely something to consider. We're all in this democracy experiment together, and our way of governing freely is worth the sacrifice. I think what we have is better than, say, shari'a law or any other governmental alternative.

We can't put the hard medicine off forever, you know. We've got to settle on something, and do it.

Dems will complain that its the "the rich" who are at fault, and question why we should bale them out with our collective pocket change. Repubs will grouse about Barney Frank's culpability and Fannie Mae and all that old stuff.

But the time for pointing fingers is past. We, the citizens of the United States of America, as represented by our congressmen and our senators, need to act.

Whatever it takes to get this mess straightened out, let us-- as President Ford said 35 years ago--"bite the bullet," and get on with it.

I'm ready to do my part to get our financial house in order. Are you?