Europe’s Financial Crisis Leads to Suicide Surge
The harsh spending cuts introduced by European governments to tackle their crippling debt problems have not only pitched the region into recession — they are also being partly blamed for outbreaks of diseases not normally seen in Europe and a spike in suicides according to the AP.
The report goes on to say that the “worsening health was driven not just by unemployment, but by the lack of a social welfare system to fall back on. People need to have hope that the government will help them through this difficult time”.
I think that it is “nice” to have public assistance programs available for the truly needy. There is however something inherently wrong with these social programs. I believe these programs promote government dependency.
A growing dependency of government is what got us into so many of our problems, and what is our own government doing? They are promoting that very dependency. Instead of raising people up, we are keeping them down. We are creating a generational dependency on social programs.
According to the 2012 Index of Dependence on Government more people than ever before—67.3 million Americans, from college students to retirees to welfare beneficiaries—depend on the federal government for housing, food, income, student aid, or other assistance.
Once considered to be the responsibility of individuals, families, neighborhoods, churches, and other civil society institutions, Americans are looking to the government to take care of them.
The ethic of self-reliance joined with a promise to the brotherly care of those in need appears threatened, well nearly absent in today’s society. There was a time, before all of the social programs, when people took care of each other. If you were having trouble the first thing you did was —anything you could — to get back on your feet.
There was no sitting around waiting for the government to come to the rescue. Your church, or family or friends helped out, and you helped others when they were in need. We took care of ourselves without a dependency on the government.
Our social programs including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are unsustainable in their current form.
Over the next 25 years, more than 77 million baby boomers will begin collecting Social Security checks, drawing Medicare benefits, and relying on long-term care under Medicaid. There will be no event so financially challenging to these programs over the next two decades than this shift of boomers into retirement.
More than 70% of Federal spending goes to dependency programs.
With so many Americans on or soon to be on the government dole and nearly half of all Americans not paying income taxes, there is no way we can pay for all of this and our spending will spiral out of control (it’s almost there now). With an increase in recipients and a decrease in the number of workers left paying for these programs, we will soon reach our fiscal tipping point much as other countries have already, and this will put us in a certain domestic debt crisis of our own.
In doing research for this article I have found no evidence that Americans are suffering a rise in medical ailments and suicides. But we have not quite reached the same crippling financial problems as our friends across the pond.
…but trust me when I tell you, it’s coming.
Senate Narrowly Passes First Budget in Four Years
So finally, the Senate passes a budget. (Wall Street Journal) How is it possible to run a country without a budget? Well, simple really, the government doesn’t have to play by the same rules you and I do. Can you imagine if you just didn’t keep track of your finances for four years? Just continue to spend like there was no tomorrow and if you felt like you were getting too deep in debt, just announce that you are going to extend or raise the amount of debt you are going to have?
The U.S. Senate narrowly passed the budget. Do they ever pass anything with everyone in agreement? I doubt it. The budget plan was passed by a 50-49 vote in the Democratic-controlled chamber. Four Democratic senators facing tough re-election campaigns in 2014 joined all the Senate Republicans in opposing the measure, which seeks to raise nearly $1 trillion in new tax revenues by closing some tax breaks for the wealthy.
I’m a bit confused as to how the government method of accounting works. They’re going to raise $1 trillion by closing some tax breaks, OK, I guess I buy that, although I think it is more speculation than fact. But I recently heard the president say that by increasing the debt ceiling to $16 trillion instead of $18 trillion he has reduced our National debt by $2 trillion.
…What?
Congress will be out of town for a two-week spring recess.
I guess after three months of work, Congress is worn out and needs a little va-ca. I guess passing a major tax increase, raising the federal debt limit, allowing $85 billion in spending cuts to take effect and enacting a bill to keep the government operating only through Sept. 30, really takes it out of you.
This budget mess is not over. It still needs to pass the house and we all know that it is not going to be that easy. With the Democrat controlled Senate and Republican controlled House, it seems like nothing ever gets done. Well, nothing of any importance. If there is a spotted, ring-neck, hootie bird spotted in a field in Whocares county in the state of Ridiculous, they have no problem agreeing that there should be millions spent of studying it and determining why it will only crap when it is facing north. …or some such nonsense.
The problem is that each side has a different view on how our country should be run. The Democrats, keeping up the stereotype, seem to be all about tax and spend and “entitlement” programs with no regard for a budget, whereas the Republicans appear to be for a smaller government and controlled spending.
The House wants a balanced budget by 2023
The House plan ostensibly brings the government’s taxes and spending into balance by 2023 with cuts to domestic spending even below the levels of automatic across-the-board cuts roiling federal programs now, and it orders up dramatic and controversial changes to Medicare and the tax code.
The Senate plan, by contrast, includes $100 billion in upfront infrastructure spending to bolster the economy and calls for special fast-track rules to overhaul the tax code and raise $975 billion over 10 years in legislation that could not be filibustered. Even with that tax increase and prescribed spending cuts, the Senate plan would leave the government with a $566 billion annual deficit in 10 years, and $5.2 trillion in additional debt over that window.
As if all of this isn’t enough to make your head explode, coming this summer… Congress must again raise the government’s statutory borrowing limit or risk defaulting on the federal debt. …The good ole Debt Ceiling problem is coming back.
So the Senate passed a budget, the first in 4 years, but guess what? It will never be passed into law as it is. …and no one seems to every compromise.
I think it’s better for me to just stick my head back in the sand and stop watching the news.
…I have had just about enough.