I remember my first time diving from the “high” board into the “deep end”. It was terrifying. However, once I did it, things changed. The act became less terrifying with each occurrence.
Is this what the spending addicts in Washington are actually afraid of?
Has the explosion of an already bloated government left us scared and shaking on the ladder? When you look closely at the proposed cuts to all departments associated with the ‘Fiscal Cliff”, or “Sequestration”, it becomes clear that they are far from scary and should really serve only as a starting point. (Not even a good starting point… but at least a starting point.)
Will government jobs be in jeopardy? Yes.
Will government programs that are duplicated throughout our military taking focus away from more important projects be cut? Yes.
Will it force our armed forces to rate in earnest what programs are worth spending taxpayer dollars on and which are not? Yes.
I address the military specifically because that seems to be where the majority of “fear” is being generated in regard to what amount to be miniscule cuts. When I say miniscule, what I really mean is ridiculously small in comparison to our catastrophic spending problem leading to our obese, soon to be fatal, debt load.
In case any of you are shaking your heads in my wanton disregard for the serious ramifications of “cutting the military” all I can say is… remember that money is fungible. If there is truly a program that must be saved, it will be saved.
So this brings me back to my original question…
Is Washington and all of our Politicians that dwell there afraid of “Going over the cliff” because it will not be a very big deal? Are they afraid that the American people will experience the aftermath and say to themselves “What’s the problem?” to be closely followed by “Let’s keep going!”
If we are serious about cutting spending this is a good start.
In regard to taxes…
If the Leftists are serious in their assertion that taxing the crap out of everyone “promotes growth”, as they claim that it did under Clinton, then let them fall on that sword. (I was there, and it was a paper tiger in the name of “the tech bubble” combined with a mature House of Representatives that produced what appeared to be a surplus…) but I’m willing to give them a helpful push as sometimes the blade gets stuck…
There is nothing in government that can’t be corrected quickly under the crushing burden of a declining economy aside from new entitlements and abdication of authority from one branch to another.
When the economic health of the United States plummets… we will need heroes, of a fiscal conservative variety. And, we will need a whole lot of them.
It was cold the morning I climbed the eleven steps and peered over the top of that diving board. Shivering I walked to the very end and peered over the edge. My memory always makes it higher than any cliff I have dived off since…
makeaneffort 
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