The Simple Unspoken Truth
It doesn't get more simple than this.

"Republicans are using spending cuts as a weapon and condition for extending unemployment benefits to millions of Americans who have lost their jobs. Republicans claim they want to cut spending by $5 billion to $6 billion each month, and on the surface it sounds like a good idea to reduce the national deficit.

At the same time though, Republicans are fighting to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that helped create the record debt we are drowning in. When Republicans gave tax cuts to rich people, they knew they were not funded, and had to let them expire after 10 years."
Source: Politics USA

As a married couple, we never seem to hear plain ol' boots-on-the-ground conservatives complaining about that. We usually rail against politicians, as we both don’t like to alienate our friends and the good people who have a sincere political ideology that differ from ours. That said, this is a fact: The GOP is fighting to give tax cuts to people who are richer than plain middle class voters can ever hope to be.

This is a conversation we have in our household on regular basis, as we have struggled and eventually did succeed in getting out of debt. We use that struggle and success as a way to identify with what the country is going thru and how we see solutions to what ails it.

You cannot cut debt without paying the debt down. For those that say Government should be able to balance a budget just like Americans have to, we say this, from personal experience:

In order to balance a budget, you must be able to pay off debt as well as save money. One cannot cut personal debt without money to pay the debt off. Cutting taxes when we have such debt and deficits is akin to a regular American family taking a pay cut in order to balance a budget, because they think it will mean they are paying less taxes, and thus saving money. The logic is seriously flawed. In the real world, people increase their revenue stream by taking 2nd job, and cutting their expenses. For the Federal government, increasing the revenue stream means increasing taxes (or rolling back tax cuts).

You can't get out of debt without paying it down. The federal government must pay down the debt -- lowering taxes even more than we are is not an answer. If one truly loves their country they way they love their family and its budgeting process, they should know that you need to pay the bills and THEN pay extra in order to get out of debt. It’s not enough to just reduce the deficit – it must be eliminated and a surplus generated to pay off some of the principal.

Cutting spending for an average family in order to get out of debt requires bringing in EXTRA money while cutting cost; the GOP is not presenting America with a way for the Federal government to bring in extra money. Extending the Bush tax cuts actually reduces the renue we could use to reduce the deficit and – hopefully – our nation’s debt.

It really doesn't get any simpler than that.

and
Raine & BobR

HOST: The debt commission, the deficit commission rather. What is your take on their recommendations, and how realistic is it?

COBURN: Well, let’s set the stage for it. We have to do something. [...] Even though I’ve said we don’t need increased taxes, I’ll take increased taxes if we cut spending. We have to look down the road and solve the problems for everybody, no matter what their label is.