On Tuesday, voters will go to the polls, inspired by their candidates' promises of tax relief, better health care, better education, a better life.
And why not? Every candidate has promised it. Surely it will be nothing but roses and fat wallets for all of us soon.
Go ahead and believe that for now. But on Wednesday, when the results are in and the euphoria begins to fade, we'd like to introduce you to our friend: reality.
The reality is you're going to have higher taxes, slightly lesser health care at a higher price, a worse education, and a crummier life -- at least for a while.
Why? Because we're broke. We the People are busted.
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Our national debt is so far beyond our ability to pay, we're never going to dig out. Add that to the personal debt so many Americans are carrying, and there's not enough income to spread around to fix the problem.
We can't have universal health care because we can't afford it. Tax cuts? Get real. They're not happening. Just pray the tax increases are gradual.
We owe $11 trillion. How much of that are we going to pay down this fiscal year? None of it. In fact, we're spending another $1 trillion beyond what we take in. We are hemorrhaging money, and our solution is to open another artery.
We've been kicking this can down the road for far too long, and the loan shark will soon want his money back. And he's not going to be impressed by our pitiful display of empty pockets.
Americans have to save more. We have to pay down debt. We have to stop spending our own -- and our government's -- money on stupid, frivolous things.
This is real, folks. This is serious. Each American's share of the debt is $35,000 now. Every man, woman and child. That's just our share of the federal debt -- today. And we're adding to that number, not reducing it.
Tax cuts? More spending? Get real. October's campaign slogans are completely divorced from reality.
