Subject: An Open Letter to Politicians and Political Candidates

The following was written by Jeffery Small and posted on his site Small Thoughts for a Complex World. A well written article that definitely takes one outside the box of "conventional" thinking.

A truly radical approach aimed at fixing, for good, our ailing fiscal and social problems.

Les Carpenter
Editor in Chief
Rational Nation USA

Excerpt:

Dear Representative of the People:

Based upon the current activity taking place in Washington D.C. regarding matters of regulatory reform, spending cuts, balancing the budget and reducing the deficit, it does not look like anything truly meaningful is going to be accomplished in the foreseeable future. Talk about reducing spending by trillions of dollars, whether proposed by President Obama or by Republicans such as Paul Ryan—assuming that these plans were ever to actually be put into effect—sound great until you understand that these numbers are not for next year's budget, but are unrealistically spread over a period of 10 to 30 years, all the while allowing actual government spending to continue to increase year upon year. All of this is just another example of the Big Lie once again being foisted off on the American public.

It is clear that the current Congress is not going to enact anything close to what is required to put this country back on a sound footing, so I am proposing that you take some truly bold action. Instead of continuing to dicker with your fellow politicians over budget levels and whether you are going to use a scalpel or a machete to either slowly whittle away at our future or simply decapitate us in one fell swoop, I would ask that you work to remove the decision making from Congress and the White House altogether and place it back in the hands of every individual citizen.

My suggestion is that you strive to create legislation that gives each person the option of deciding whether or not they wish to remain in, and pay for the full set of federal entitlements, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare, along with the the other 2,177 programs listed, as of July 8th, in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. For those who support these programs and wish to continue to receive, or remain in line to receive future benefits, they simply register their choice and continue to participate. Other individuals who would prefer to opt out of receiving all future government benefits would be allowed to register that choice as well. In exchange for their willingness to walk away from all past contributions to these programs, and agreeing to never receive any future pay out or aid, they would stop having entitlement payments deducted from their earnings and have their taxes permanently reduced by an appropriate amount. They would then be free to use these funds to manage their own insurance, medical and retirement needs.

It is clear that a sizable segment of the U.S. population is currently prepared to assume responsibility for their own lives, and would willingly opt out of these programs. By doing so, this would immediately and drastically reduce the future debt obligation of the federal government and go a long way towards addressing the fiscal crisis. For those who choose to remain in these programs, they would continue to pay in as necessary to keep the programs alive. To account for the shortfall that would occur in meeting current obligation with a reduced tax base, other less important areas of federal spending would be identified and eliminated, and the funding shifted over to these programs as necessary in order to keep them solvent.

In addition to our fiscal problems, this country is also currently facing great social instability. While there are, of course, many sub-groups within the following simplified designations, our society has become polarized into two broad factions: the fiscal conservatives and the social progressives. Whereas people of diverse viewpoints once coexisted peacefully together, as government has grown in size and scope, imposing its control in ever expanding areas, many people have justifiably come to feel that they are losing command over the direction and purpose of their own lives, resulting in greater levels of anxiety, dissatisfaction and unhappiness. {Read More}

For those who find merit in Jeffery's arguments lets help to make Jeffery's open letter go viral.

Via: Memeorandum