For as long as politicians have walked the earth, they have been enriching themselves as peddlers of pull. When people hold the purse strings of a nation’s bank account, they can empower or enrich others. Throughout history, politicians worldwide have made deals whereby a percentage of the money they give out finds its way back into the personal bank account of the politician. It’s incredible how our politicians’ net worths grow exponentially once in office.
There is a limit to how much money politicians have available to dole out. There are two ways to increase the pool of dollars they can give out for a commission: taxes and debt.
The people immediately feel the pain of taxes and will vote out politicians who hurt their pocketbooks. Borrowing is a tax that isn’t felt for years to come. It is a tax on future generations. By borrowing, politicians can get rich while in office, and the public will feel the pain after the politician has become wealthy.
The more money politicians borrow, the more they can enrich their self. We have politicians giving billions in aid to foreign countries while at the same time borrowing the money to do so.
On a personal level, this is akin to going to the bank for a loan so you can donate to a charity. If you borrow money to give away, eventually, you will have nothing but debt and will be bankrupt.
To regain control of our nation’s spending, we need an amendment stating the country cannot give any money in foreign donations as long as we have debt or that politicians who vote to give money while in debt do so at the cost of their political careers and must permanently step down. We are not in a position to help others if we must first help ourselves.
As long as politicians can borrow money to give out, they will borrow as much as possible. Needing money must be seen as evidence of failure by our politicians. Therefore, politicians who vote to borrow should be termed. Borrowing is so severe that politicians should only do so if it were of such necessity they were willing to trade their careers and step down.
If the consequences for borrowing are so severe that politicians won’t do it unless necessary, then the only way to increase the available funds to dole out is to tax. Since taxes are felt immediately and could end the politician’s career, taxes will be kept in check.
Another safeguard should be that borrowing should come with a mandatory 10% reduction in federal spending for ten years. The quickest way to reduce expenses is to “trim the fat.” This means smaller government and fewer public employees. Those who benefit from big government will avoid anything that decreases its size.
Pensions are an enormous expense for the government. Private citizens (the producers of society) don’t get guaranteed income in retirement. Why should their employees have a secured retirement? Government employees should have the same retirement options as citizens. Pensions can bankrupt a country. When the GDP decreases and tax dollars decrease, the pension liability becomes a more significant fraction of the budget. If we keep pensions in the private market, we don’t need to borrow money to cover them. If the funds aren’t there and we must borrow, then the size of the government must be reduced, hence the 10% reduction over the next ten years.
If we must borrow money, we are in a financial crisis, and returning to a position of solidarity is a matter of critical national security. If doing so triggers a mandatory reduction of government, then politicians will avoid it at all costs. Borrowing is a sign of either incompetence or betrayal of public trust and should come with a penalty.
We are the most prosperous country in the history of the world. We should never need money from other countries. Only corrupt politicians put us in a situation where we need outside help.
The final safeguard involves monitoring the financial gains of those in elected positions. Politicians should face mandatory financial investigations as a condition of public office and face severe penalties for receiving funds directly or indirectly that originated from tax dollars, whether foreign or domestic.
Remember, if it isn’t scary to be a politician, it will be dangerous to be a citizen.