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The reality of austerity

No politician would dare say it--Americans spend (waste) too much and aren't taxed enough. But we need to spend less and save more at the personal level, and should be taxed more to pay for programs we all want like social security, medicare-health care, and defense. And we must insist on getting...

By Jonathan D. Miller | Updated on October 16, 2009

No politician would dare say it–Americans spend (waste) too much and aren't taxed enough. But we need to spend less and save more at the personal level, and should be taxed more to pay for programs we all want like social security, medicare-health care, and defense. And we must insist on getting better value for every dollar we spend personally and by elected officials. Our freely elected government has led us into the ditch of huge deficits and massive debt service payments to foreign countries, because we bought the Kool Aid about having more by getting taxed less and borrowing to make up the difference. Now that the bills have come due it's doubly hard to change–it means a period of difficult austerity. But neither Democrats nor Republicans want to own up to it–since they want to get re-elected. Who has ever won on a platform of higher taxes and reduced programs?

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