A Sure fire way to Balance the Budget

This is an essay written by my brother, for his Micro-Economic's class. The topic for his paper was how to balance the budget. When he sent me the paper for proof-reading, I told him that this was something that needed to be posted. Thanks for reading:

In order to balance the budget I am proposing a complete restructuring of the tax system as well as a complete restructuring of the federal government. "When in the course of human events", that is the way Thomas Jefferson began the Declaration of Independence, and that is where we stand. The federal debt is fast approaching $14,000,000,000,000. It is not enough to place twelve zeros behind the number fourteen to describe exactly what that means. There are roughly 310 million people in this country (men, women, and children). That breaks down to everyone, from infants who have barely opened their eyes and people on their death bed that owe around $45,000 each to pay off the debt. I don't know about you' but I am outraged. Not only at our government for spending such a ridiculous amount of money, but all of us for allowing to go on for so long. It is time to take drastic measures. Paying off the national debt is not an option.

   If you understand the vernacular of the time, you like me would interpret the Declaration of Independence to say that " We hold these truths to be self evident, that all human beings are created(note it does not say born) equal and are endowed by their creator ( whomever that may be) with certain unalienable rights, that among these are the right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (happiness its self is not a guarantee) . That in order to secure these rights government are formed and derive their just powers from the governed. If ever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it.

 The fact is, It is easier to spend money then it is to make it. Spending by the federal government should be to defense, and promoting the general welfare. Defense to secure the blessings of liberty, as for promoting the general welfare we can just let a bunch of lawyers argue over the meaning or we the people can define it for ourselves through election processes where we choose representatives that best express our views on what the money should be spent on. The next step would be to give power back to the people who inhabit each of the fifty states, and allow them to control all that happens in their state through local representatives. This would allow people in their town to decide what is best for their safety and happiness. The simple truth is we need less government, this is not a political opinion, for I hold political affiliation. Less government just translates to less spending, it's not rocket science.

   So here we are the same nation, but we have casted aside our former system of government. We still need money for defense and the general welfare of the nation. So we need a tax, but what kind? A flat tax on all new items purchased, with exception of most food items. A consumption tax would be much simpler, and it would solve most of the issues that plague us as a nation. Illegal immigration would no longer be an issue. If you are in this country and you are making purchases, you would pay a tax on those purchases. The hardest part behind changing the tax system is convincing people that the money you get back each year was actually your money to begin with. It is as if a bully where to beat you up and take huge chunks of your money and at the end of the year most people would get some of that money back, but the bully would decide who and how much. It is much more respectful to let the people who earned the money decide best how to save or spend it.

  To me this just make sense. After all we are a nation of entrepreneurs, a group of people from all walks of life and from every corner of the globe. All undoubtedly in search of the American dream, and who are we to let any form of government stand in the way of that dream. It is said it the Declaration of Independence that, "All experience hath shown that mankind  are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they have become accustomed". So rather than take the chance on something that has the promise of being a much better system, we are more likely to be complacent with a system that has failed us time and time again.   

            Now to address the debt, and like said in the first part of this essay, paying off the debt is not an option. We shall just count the enormous amount of foreign aid not to mention the many priceless American lives lost in defending liberty all around the world, as payment in full on that debt. Let us not forget that whenever anyone in the world has needed help due to natural disaster or another country invading their soil, The United States of America has always been there to answer the call. It is more than reasonable to ask the rest of the world to let that which we have done pay for our debt. I believe so strongly in this system that I would be willing to trade anything to make it happen, I would give my life.