If you've ever wondered....where does the money go?

Where Does the Money Go?: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis by Scott Bittle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the book for you.  We often hear how our overspending ways will lead to our demise.  In the partisan bickering that bogs down our political system, it is difficult to figure out the extent of the real threat.  Just how bad is it?

Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson make it very clear -- it's really bad.  They move beyond the hyperbole and finger pointing to highlight the sources of our fiscal crisis and how it threatens our future.  Writing in an accessible style, the authors dispel myths about the largest categories of federal spending (spoiler alert: no, it is not welfare or defense) and show exactly why and how we're headed for trouble.  Bittle and Johnson illustrate in painful detail how push is going to come to shove once the Baby Boomers hit retirement and draw upon Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Here are six things, Bittle and Johnson think every American should know about the federal debt dilemma:

The Budget Debate: Parking-lot Version:

1. For thirty-one out of the last thirty-five years, the country has spent more on government programs and services than it has collected in taxes.

2. Every year the government comes up short, it borrows money to cover the difference. We've now built up a very big debt —roughly $9 trillion, and yes, that is trillion with a t.

3. The country will have humongous additional expenses over the next couple of decades as the baby boomers begin to retire and need more medical care.

4. There is no realistic way government can lower taxes (or even keep them at current levels), spend money on everything people want the government to do (at least according to the polls), and still end up with a balanced budget.

5. If we keep on going the way we're going, the debt will get bigger and begin to endanger the U.S. Economy and our own personal finances and plans. And the government won't have enough money to pay for Social Security and Medicare for the boomers and still do what most of us expect government to do.

6. A substantial portion of the country's debt is held in foreign countries. Right now, these foreign investors consider U.S. Government bonds one of the safest places in the world to put their money, but they could decide at some point that Europe or China or some other place is a better bet. This would be the global equivalent of a store clerk seizing your credit card and cutting it up.

Comeback America by David Walker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

David Walker's book, Comeback America, is a good companion piece to Bittle and Johnson's work. Walker served as the seventh Comptroller General of the United States and was the CEO of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) from 1998 to 2008. Though non-repentant Keynesians (like myself) may try to eschew the book as just another vitriolic partisan rant. Please be assured it is not. Instead, Walker lays out compelling evidence that shows how our huge national debt will limit our ability to tackle the challenges ahead -- providing health care for an increasingly aging population, quality education and future opportunities for our children. Writing in a clear and accessible style, Walker makes a strong case for our need to wake up and muster the courage needed to secure our economic future.

Despite the sobering conclusions presented, these books are not doomsday tales.  They provide an exploration of what we can change course before it is too late.  In this regard, the authors not only help us to understand our current fate, but they also point to some promising directions into a better, more secure future.  I would put both of these books on the list of the recommended readings list for all Americans.

Related links of interest:

• Click on this link to see the Bill Moyers interview with the authors:  The Debt Dilemma.  (The interview begins a couple of minutes into the video segment).
• For more information on the federal budget check out the website for the Public Agenda, "a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to strengthen our democracy's capacity to take on tough issues" 
• For more information on David Walker's Comeback America.
• Click on this link to see a 30 minute segment of I.O.U.S.A. -- a non-partisan documentary that explains the national debt.

All aboard...

The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As an amateur history buff, I can usually get drawn into a well told story of a riveting episode from our past. I must admit that reading about the Puritans has never made it to the top of my list. They always struck me as a stuffy, humorless people hellbent on suffering.

Sarah Vowell's book, The Wordy Shipmates, changed all that. First of all, for those of you unfamiliar with Vowell, she writes about the past with an engaging mix of expansive intelligence and wit. Who knew one could laugh out loud while reading about the exploits of this motley crew of Bible thumping religious zealots?

While Vowell does provide keen analysis and much humor, her greatest achievement is in making the Puritans' story relevant to us today. A long line of American Presidents (such as JFK, Reagan, etc.) and politicians have made use of John Winthrop's "City on the Hill" metaphor. This idea has been twisted into a call for American Exceptionalism that has caused us to turn to a blind eye toward our flaws and overemphasize our superiority over other nations (and led us into numerous wars to prove it).

Those who have narrowly focused on this aspect of Winthrop's thinking fail to acknowledge that deeply embedded within the "City on the Hill" is a profoundly "communitarian ethos" -- the well-being of the least among us is inextricably bound up with our own. It is ironic that in this Christian land, there are some who troll through the past, selectively choosing tidbits to support their claims of greatness while missing this important point entirely.

Highly recommend for those in search of a good laugh while at the same time gaining a deeper understanding of the roots of our current political discourse and conflicts. Enjoy!

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Load up the gun rack...it's time to go Deer Hunting with Jesus

Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War by Joe Bageant


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Bageant writes with compassion and searing insight into working class life in America. He mixes storytelling with his own analysis of the free fall of "the great beery, NASCAR-loving, church-going, gun-owning America that has never set foot in a Starbucks." He also casts a bright light on what he calls "the American hologram" -- the mix of "televised, corporatized virtual reality that distracts us from the insidious realities of American life." The stupor of entertainment and media spectacle has successfully turn the attention of ordinary Americans from matters of the health and well-being of our democracy.

For those seeking to gain a better understanding of the turn our political discussion has taken toward the vitriolic and violent, Bageant's book offers insights to better understand the deep divides that separate us.

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I am currently reading...

Sarah Vowell's book, The Partly Cloudy Patriot which consists of a collection of essays of her observations about historical happenings, life and her unique view of the world. In places, it is laugh out loud funny. In others, it is deeply thought-provoking.

From editorial reviews on Amazon.com:

"Sarah Vowell travels through the American past and, in doing so, investigates the dusty, bumpy roads of her own life. In this insightful and funny collection of personal stories Vowell -- widely hailed for her inimitable stories on public radio's This American Life -- ponders a number of curious questions: Why is she happiest when visiting the sites of bloody struggles like Salem or Gettysburg? Why do people always inappropriately compare themselves to Rosa Parks? Why is a bad life in sunny California so much worse than a bad life anywhere else? What is it about the Zen of foul shots? And, in the title piece, why must doubt and internal arguments haunt the sleepless nights of the true patriot?

Her essays confront a wide range of subjects, themes, icons, and historical moments: Ike, Teddy Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton; Canadian Mounties and German filmmakers; Tom Cruise and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; twins and nerds; the Gettysburg Address, the State of the Union, and George W. Bush's inauguration.

The result is a teeming and engrossing book, capturing Vowell's memorable wit and her keen social commentary."