Elections

We've been talking a lot on Twitter about the election and who will win and why, and who should win, etc. Officially I'm a Romney guy but unofficially I don't think there's a single person in politics today that will do even remotely enough to turn things around. It sounds very harsh but I don't think America can make the changes it needs to with the size of the gov't until it's too late. That is, until it has no choice.

My only issue in politics is the nat'l debt. Of course social issues and taxes and healthcare are all extremely high on my list. But primarily, I am almost completely focused on the debt as the thing that will ruin us. I think there will be a day where we can no longer borrow or print money to support gov't spending. Entitlements, runaway subsidies, stupid programs, ridiculous departments-it's all too much.

So therefore, I don't think it will much matter who wins. If Romney wins, we will go bankrupt slower, and we'll get a few decent laws on the books, repeal Obamacare, extend the Bush tax cuts (or hopefully make them permanent), and maybe get a Supreme nominated or two. All of those are very good things. But I don't think for a minute that the size of the gov't will be reduced. At best, I think the rate of our borrowing will slow/decrease under Romney. When the most aggressive debt reduction plan in the country is the Paul Ryan plan, and it ADDS to the deficit, and people attack it for being akin to the most draconian form of torture since the middle ages...there's not much hope. It will take people stopping lending to us to force us to adopt austerity measures.

Why not just raise taxes, especially on the rich? Because gov't expands to fill the $ it has. Democrats (and many Republicans) will just spend the money on some stupid new program and claim the program is 'paid for.' When you're $16T in debt, *nothing* is 'paid for.' If you have to borrow money to pay for something, it's not 'paid for.'

On a basic level, I know things are going to get progressively worse for the planet. I've read the Book of Revelations. As a parent, I would strongly prefer to be the one dealing directly with all that rather than my kids. The thought of being a old guy and potentially a burden on my daughters when they're basically just fighting for survival is too much.

Because I absolutely believe that low taxes, low spending, entitlement reform, tort reform, healthcare reform, tax code reform, and so on, are the key to our survival, I'm not afraid of a 2nd Obama term. Because I know that his plans won't work. They'll just put us more in debt. Sure, the economy might go up or go down and unemployment might go up or down, but ultimately we will be in a far worse place as a country in 4 add'l years. I think healthcare especially will be disastrous. And as painful as it will be, it would almost be nice to see that all happen and be proved right just so I can say 'I told you so.' Almost worth it.

It's insanely cynical but I say if the choice is between declining slower and declining faster, then I'm pretty tempted to say 'come armageddon, come armageddon, come.' Better me than my kids.