We Borrow Money...

That is what we do.  To put a limit on the amount of money we as a Nation can borrow

would radically alter who we are and limit us in ways we might not like.  It has been our wealth,

or our ability to gain wealth that has made us strong and the envy of the world.  People, corporations

and institutions still want to lend us money.  It is just capped at the moment and some think we might not

want any more!

   If you could list the ten best things the United States has ever done, you might be surprised that they

were all from borrowed money!  World War II, any war actually, the "Marshall Plan" and rebuilding Europe, NASA and our explorations in space, our efforts at taking care of those that need assistance, just about everything we do is on borrowed money!  Some things are unexpected, not seen in any one's budget.

Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters.  The terrorist attack on 9-11.  These all cost money.

   We are about to lose our triple AAA credit rating and you will see the defeat of America without firing a shot!!!  Who will respond if the world goes amok?  What will happen in a leaderless world?  We may not be perfect but because of who we are others are allowed to be.

   This is not kitchen economics here and I am ashamed at our congressmen for having no historical perspective.  What Ronald Regan did to end the Cold War, a serious time when we were taught to hide under our desks, was absolute genius.  He kept raising the stakes and drove the old Soviet Union into bankruptcy.  He raised our National Debt 18 times, kept upping the ante until they folded.  With a cap on the debt that is a card game we will never be able to play again!

   Everything, all along the way has been done with borrowed money.  Take that away from us and we will be just like Greece!

   The problem is not in borrowing the money, it is in raising the revenue to pay it back.  The money is there.

If this were kitchen table economics Grandpa has it all.  We don't burn money.  It has not been lost.  This is like a monopoly game where one player has accumulated all the real estate.  Corporations are doing very well, the best ever in the last six years.  More people are making over $200,000 a year than ever before!

These are great times for the wealthy.  And with the Bush Tax Cuts still in play these wonderful days for the rich and famous will continue.

   Our ability to borrow is what has made us strong.  Other countries too have good willed people, hard working people.  We have cash.  Or at least we did.  I would hate to see historians of the future liking our downfall to the likes of the Roman Empire or the Fall of the British Empire, the demise of any past powerful nation because we ran out of money.  We have money.  Lots of it.  More than ever before.

   There is a penalty in emphasizing science and technology in our schools.  We forget how we got here.

We lose sight of where we are going.  We no longer know who we are.  We don't know what we could be.