Accountability - anyone?

There is no greater threat to our national security than the economic iceberg we've collectively built and guided our country toward at ever-increasing speeds. Out-of-control federal spending must be reined in, or a bleak future awaits our children and grandchildren.

But the widening federal deficit isn't entirely a congressional issue. In fact, to eventually melt the massive iceberg, we're convinced every single American will have to sacrifice - to pay more taxes and receive fewer benefits. Candidates won't be emboldened until voters accept the hard truth and display the kind of courage that made our country great.

Yes, voters first, then Congress.

In the superb book by Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum called "That Used to Be Us: How America fell behind the world it invented and how we can come back," the authors interviewed former South Carolina Rep. Bob Inglis.

Inglis, a Republican who served in Congress for a self-imposed six-year term from 1992-'98 and again from 2004-'10 - he lost in 2010 - shared the story of a town hall meeting on health care in Simpsonville, S.C., during the 2010 campaign. Here's an excerpt from the Friedman-Mandelbaum book that sheds brilliant light on a problem that persists today; a problem whose painful solution is absolutely necessary if our country is to be truly great again.

Inglis:

"I was talking about health-care issues and an elderly man stands up and says, 'Keep your government hands off my Medicare.'

"I said to him, 'Well, sir, of course. Medicare is a government program.' 'Yes,' he says, 'but I am paying for it.' And I say, 'Yes, you are. You are paying - 25 percent of the premium - and the government is picking up 75 percent' through Medicare Part B. Now he is threatened, and he says, 'Yes, but I paid for it while I was working.' And I say, 'Yes, 1.45 percent you, and 1.45 percent your employers, paid a Medicare tax on your payroll.' I was trying to be as diplomatic as I could be.

"He looked to be about 75 years old, a man in OK health. So I added: 'And I have to say, if you had one or two hospital admissions you have used up all that you and your employer have ever paid in.' He sat down, angry. That man's self-conception was that he rode out onto the prairie on his own horse and tamed this country and got what he has entirely by his own effort. Deep down, though, he knew that he had not gotten this on his own. He was dependent on other people and that threatened his identity.

"What I needed to say to win him over and win my election was that 'I am going to prevent that socialist in the White House, who is probably not even an American citizen and who is illegitimately in the White House, from getting his hands on your Medicare.' Then I would have been a political hero - but I would have left them in ignorance. What is tragic right now is that we have people - leading people - who choose to leave audiences in ignorance and even encourage stupidity."

Congress is no place for people who encourage stupidity.

And America is no place for the rest of us to put stupidity on such proud display.