A while back I blogged that we “Old Bean Counters” could fix the deficit in pretty short order. I know, I know – things are VERY messed up and it may take more than a couple of weeks to straighten it out.
But still, it ain’t rocket science. It’s just Dollars In, Dollars Out. In business, in government, and in family life, you can’t spend more money than you take in – at least not for very long. So you need to make sure that what you do spend is not wasted, and you need to help the guys who bring the dollars in. From all indications, our current Congress has it backwards – they can’t get their spending under control, and they go out of their way to stifle success in the private sector.
Here’s another simple platitude we Old Bean Counters used to throw out regularly: Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail.
In business, planning is everything. Successful companies analyze their markets, create an operating plan that shows how profit will be made, and then execute the plan. Those who take it “one day at a time” and try to react to events as they occur nearly always fail. It’s survival of the fittest, and the fittest are careful planners.
Our US Senate, including Montana’s own Max Baucus and Jon Tester, are not exactly “the fittest”. They, their leader Harry Reid, and the rest of the Senate, have not passed a budget since April 29, 2009. In fact Reid said, “There’s no need to have a Democratic budget, in my opinion.”
This year President Obama submitted his budget proposal in February, as is his responsibility. It failed to receive a single vote in either the House or the Senate, but hey – he did his job.
Soon after that, the House passed their own budget proposal. It went to the Senate, where it languishes today just like every bill the House sends over. The House continues to work on budget and spending bills, knowing there is no hope of success, but doing the work anyway.
Meanwhile, the Senate has been busy doing . . . well, nothing. Senate Democrats have the ball, and if they can’t play their game, they are going home and taking the ball with them. Senate Republicans – in keeping with recent tradition – threaten to filibuster any bill the other guys put up. So the Dems just don’t bother.
So we spend, and spend, and spend – without a budget. We make no attempt to improve the business climate (and government revenues) by reforming tax and regulation policies. We just take it one day at a time, and let policy decisions be made according to political doctrine, without regard to economic viability.
We have failed to plan for over three years now.
The result is clear. We have failed. We are losers. And Mssrs. Baucus and Tester share the blame.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Enjoy one of the best Beatle songs ever –
What have I done to deserve such a fate
I realize I have left it too late
And so it’s true, pride comes before a fall
I’m telling you so that you won’t lose all
Rockin' On The Right Side 