Feature:Opinion

Americans deserve the truth about the U.S. budget crisis

David Meyers Former White House Staffer
Font Size:

Americans are clamoring for honesty and action from their leaders. So it has been dispiriting to see the reaction from Democrats and Republicans to our nation’s grim financial outlook.

In Fiscal Year 2010, the U.S. government took in $2.2 trillion in revenue and spent $3.5 trillion. Every American understands that if we continue on this path, it’s only a matter of time before we go bankrupt and lose our status as the world’s most affluent and powerful country.

Over the past few years, American families have been making the tough choices necessary to live within their means. And they expect the federal government to do the same. But all they are getting is platitudes from politicians of every party.

Democrats put out budgets that don’t seriously address our nation’s fiscal crisis, while Republicans offer generalities about cutting spending without any specific, serious proposals that would get to the heart of the problem. Republicans use the threat of tax increases as a bogeyman while Democrats claim that Republicans want to end Medicare and Social Security.

The truth is that we either need to drastically cut spending (far beyond what almost any politician in Washington is calling for) or increase revenues.

Almost all of the spending cuts being proposed by President Obama and Congress are discretionary programs, which account for a small portion of our budget. In order to get America back in the black, we need to turn to the “sacred cows” of American politics: entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare, defense spending, and domestic programs such as education, housing and urban development, and health and human services.

Many Americans want these programs to continue, and many of them have merit. But we cannot sustain them without increasing revenues, which is a problem since Americans don’t want tax increases either.

But instead of telling the American people that our current way of life is unsustainable, Republicans call for small-ball spending cuts and Democrats call for imaginary savings and small-ball tax increases. Neither of these approaches will have a serious impact on our nation’s financial health.

Politicians say these proposals are “just a start,” but that is not convincing. Even if we cut entire federal departments such as the EPA and the Departments of Education and Labor, we would still be spending more than we take in. And everyone knows these kinds of cuts will never happen.

So what’s the answer? Serious, specific plans to make larger reductions in entitlement spending, discretionary spending, and military spending. And if this still isn’t good enough, we might have to find new sources of revenue that won’t harm economic growth.

But instead, we get more and more platitudes and false promises. Why? Politicians think if they tell Americans the truth, they’ll be voted out of office. The opposite is true. Unless politicians start telling the truth and demonstrating real courage and leadership, they’ll find themselves out of a job.

The American people don’t need to be patronized or lied to. They understand the choices will be hard, and that we will all have to sacrifice. They can handle the truth, and they are desperate for leaders who will give it to them. Politicians who don’t trust the American people don’t deserve the trust of the American people.

David Meyers served in the White House from 2006 to 2009, and later in the United States Senate. He is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel