REAL TALK - Presidential ELECTION!

Maybe you have been following the talk of a bailout on Capital Hill the last week or so, if you haven't, what you have missed is the usual, the status quo, democrats blaming republicans, the republicans blaming the democrats and nothing getting accomplished which has become the New America.

More than ever, we as a society, feel the need to label ourselves a democrat or a republican and more than ever we feel the need to bash the other side and no matter what defend our side. But what has been lost is America.

Listen, I have been guilty too to some extent. I lean toward the republicans almost exclusively though I did vote both terms for Bill Clinton. The reality is though the republicans no longer represent my beliefs and neither do the democrats. As a business person, my number one issue consistently is taxes. But I also realize we have let the national deficit balloon and that is the fault of George Bush, the republicans and the democrats, it is all their faults and it is our fault too. It is our fault because even with an insane deficit, many of you want more, free healthcare, I want tax cuts, gays want marriage, etc.

Here's the reality, much like we have credit card limits, the american credit card is maxed out, And we all better get on the same page on this one. We need to be cutting spending drastically and we need in all honesty to begin to raise taxes to increase revenues to pay down this deficit. In all honesty, that means no government healthcare, strategic social security and medicare as they are the two biggest programs, programs that will begin to run worse and worse deficits. What does that mean? It means more people are retiring and drawing social security and medicare than the revenues from you and I, the working people, are coming in. Thats a problem.

Do the Kennedys or the Bushes really need social security? I think not. Does Bill Gates one day need to recieve social security? Warren Buffett? Of course not.

How do we accomplish paying down this national debt. I believe we need a small national sales tax 1 or 2% on all goods and services, with the clear understanding that the funds are used for one purpose, to pay down the national debt. Not for schools, not for roads, nothing but the national debt. And once the debt is payed down, the tax is removed.

And you might say well thats not fair to the very poor. It is. The wealthy you are, face it, the more you consume.

What will this do? This will significantly strengthen the dollar. This will allow your dollar to go much further in the goods you purchase.

It will also make are far less prone to negative foreign influence.

Do I want to pay another tax? NO. But will I in this case, absolutly.

The country needs drastic reforms to social security where everyone does not recieve it. Same with medicare. Am I happy that I pay all this money into a program and recieve no benefits - Yes. But I also realize their are some people that need it to live or they would be homeless.

We need to set a timetable to hand Iraq back to Iraq. Or if they ask us to stay any longer, than we should be recieving a benefit from that such as cheap oil. I don't care if the Iraqi's make a profit, but Iraq should be selling us our oil needs at a steep discount to market. I believe $60 to $70 a barrell is fair. They make a profit. Our gas and fuel costs drop atleast 25%.

We also need to all get on the same page on energy. Hybrids are an answer. Oil is going to continue to be part of the answer. We also need compressed natural gas vehicles and infrastructure. The more options their are, the lower the overall demand for each will be and the lower cost you and I will pay.

My point to this post, we all need stop think only about the amerIca needs and get back to thinking about America. We need to demand the excesses be cleaned up, the waste, the useless programs - every government budget needs to be cut, we need to get more effective. That combined with a national sales tax aimed only at paying down the debt, will begin to put this country back on track.

If you have credit card debt, you really need to get it under control and start paying it down and adjust your spending level. You'll be much happier in both the short and long term. If you have a car loan, you really need to look at downsizing next time and getting something you can pay cash for. Eliminate the debt. Get back to living within your means. It will be better for you and the country.