OPINION:
President Biden and Congress raising OF the debt ceiling by $480 billion more is nothing of which to be proud. Both continue to ignore our national debt, which will exceed $29 trillion by December. This averages $86,710 per citizen, or $228,999 per taxpayer.
There are thousands of employees who are familiar with the details of our federal budget. How difficult can it be to find billions of dollars in savings? This could assist in reducing our frequent raising of the debt ceiling.
Millions of Americans cut their household budgets to make ends meet. It is time for Washington to live within its available, existing revenues without excessive borrowing, just like millions of ordinary citizens do every day.
Return to pay-as-you-go budgeting means testing for all government-assistance programs, sunset provisions for agencies and programs that have outlived their original purpose and real balanced budgets without smoke and mirrors. We need to return to a time with actual surpluses used as down payments to reduce long-term government debt.
Close down obsolete military bases at home and abroad. Reduce U.N. and foreign aid to those who offer no support when needed. Insist our NATO and other partners pay their fair share, including billions owed from previous years. End entanglement in new foreign adventures. Say no to congressional earmarking of funds for pork-barrel projects.
Have the IRS accelerate the collection of several hundred billion in uncollected back taxes owed by deadbeat individuals and corporations, along with suspending billions in future tax refunds to those who are gainfully employed yet continue failing to pay long-overdue taxes or student loans.
The president and Congress have forgotten the old saying, “A penny saved is a penny earned.”
LARY PENNER
Great Neck, N.Y.
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