Balanced budgets and the American dream

For the past two decades, the incomes of middle class Americans have remained stagnant while inflation erodes life's savings.

Longstanding American industries closed their facilities. Laborers and machinists employed by these plants watched as their jobs moved overseas.

The industrial base continues to erode resulting in fewer family sustaining jobs. Advances in technology are increasing exponentially and computer-controlled robots are replacing thousands of assembly line technicians.

The trend will continue with Amazon and other warehouse retailers displacing, or putting pressure on, longstanding big box retailers. Where will these displaced workers and the managers find employment?

The cost of medical insurance is increasing at a rate of 20-25 percent per year. A family of five pays about as much for medical insurance as it does for home mortgage. Drug company lobbyists have convinced the Food and Drug Administration and Congress that imported drugs do not meet the same testing standards as U.S. manufacturers. Bankruptcy is more of a threat than imported drugs.

Congress should listen to Warren Buffet. Our problems will not be solved until the net tax rate on the high rollers increases enough to cover part of the cost of maintaining the national infrastructure used to support their businesses. They have profited from war after war without sending their sons and daughters into combat. The generation that goes to war needs to be the generation that pays for the war.

Early in his campaign, President Trump proposed to rein in Wall Street and eliminate tax loopholes that allow the wealthy to pay little or no tax. I heard no mention of this in the president's disciplined speech to Congress.

We have become apathetic and elected officials have lost all fiscal accountability. Both political parties have mired our children and grandchildren in national debt. The Democrats tax and spend and the Republicans spend and borrow. George H.W. Bush once called the latter voodoo economics.

It is unrealistic to expect the president and Congress to balance the budget immediately but it is reasonable to have a balanced budget within two to three years. To achieve a balance, Congress may have to convene five days a week instead of three. Additionally, the people who paid for their campaigns may have to pay a little more tax to make America great again. We need bold new projects and money to fund the future.

For those who have placed the Bible aside, I suggest you pick it up, study it, and ask God to guide the thoughts of our elected officials to restore the American dream for our citizens.

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Leonard Brant is a resident of Post Falls.