A Leader With Experience

On November 7, 2012, regardless of who wins the elections, the United States will still be the most in-debt nation in the world.

Our national debt is over $14,274,136,369,786 and rising by $4.11 billion per day.

But what is "national debt"? From www.businesspundit.com:

"The national debt is the total amount of money owed by the US Federal Government to creditors who hold US Debt instruments (like Treasury Bills and Savings Bonds). It includes all federal debt held by states, corporations, individuals and *this is the kicker* foreign governments. Yes, you heard right. We borrow money from other countries’ governments to finance our own. Which really means that we’re borrowing from their citizens to pay for programs for our citizens."

The estimated population of the United States is 310,308,955 so each citizen's share of this debt is $45,999.76.

But what do these numbers mean? A billion is a thousand times greater than a million. A trillion is a thousand times greater than a billion!

Somehow though, when we put a dollar sign in front of numbers, they seem to shrink, especially for politicians. It's always easier when you are spending someone else's money.

Let's start by looking at a billion from other perspectives. From about.com:

• About a billion minutes ago, the Roman Empire was in full swing. (One billion minutes is about 1,900 years.)
• About a billion hours ago, we were living in the Stone Age. (One billion hours is about 114,000 years.)
• About a billion months ago, dinosaurs walked the earth. (One billion months is about 82 million years.)
• A billion inches is 15,783 miles, more than halfway around the earth (circumference).
• The earth is about 8,000 miles wide (diameter), and the sun is about 800,000 miles wide, not quite a million.

Here's another way to think about a billion, how long would it take you to count to a billion? Start counting one number a second without stopping until you reach a billion. It will take you 31 years, 259 days, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds.


Now that's a billion. What about a trillion? Remember that's a thousand times greater than a billion.

How long would it take you to count to a trillion? Longer than recorded history, about 32,000 years.

Now let's go back to the realm of money. Here's a better way of thinking about a trillion, from James Hamilton at Econbrowser:

A trillion dollars is about the total amount collected in income taxes by the U.S. federal government in fiscal year 2006-- $1.04 trillion. That gives me a simple rule of thumb for personalizing these numbers. If I want to know what an additional trillion dollars in government borrowing or spending will mean for me, I just imagine what it would be like to pay twice as much in federal income taxes for one year.

(Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-is-1-trillion-2009-3#ixzz1IJIPWNhy)

With our national debt skyrocketing above $14 trillion, and each of us carrying a share of over $45,000 to pay for it, we need national leaders who not only talk of managing our economy, but who also have experience in doing so.

President Obama as a candidate promised he would tackle our economic problems. Once in office, he did all in his power, along with the Democratic Congress, to push through his stimulus bill, bailouts for the banking and automotive industry and health-care legislation. These have added tremendously to the economic burden of our country. And who will pay for all of this? Our grandchildren. Ask yourself, are better off than you were November 2008?

Clearly President Obama is not the economic leader we need in these times. We don't need a vain promise of "Hope", but we do need real "Change."

We need a proven economic leader. Someone who has a backbone of steel, someone with a willingness to say no and mean it. We need someone who has faced hard choices before and been willing to make them, not back down, not turn away, not be silent.

We need someone as tough as a bear. . .a grizzly bear.

While Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin reduced spending in her budget for Fiscal Year 2010 by more than one billion dollars from the previous governor's fiscal year budget. Think about that for a minute. . .reduced the budget by more than a BILLION dollars and for one state!

This was a real 9.5% reduction in spending. Her fiscal year 2010 budget was $10.7 billion compared to Governor Murkowski's fiscal year 2007 budget of nearly $11.7 billion. At the same time, she fulfilled her promise to forward fund education, allowing districts greater flexibility and predictability in their planning.

She vetoed half a billion dollars in spending (so she reduced the budget by one billion and vetoed another half billion), which was the largest veto in state history.

Governor Palin reduced earmark requests for the state of Alaska by 80% during her administration, requesting only earmarks that would benefit the country as a whole.

Governor Palin opposed much of the “stimulus”, wanting only to accept 55% of the money allocated to Alaska, specifically only dollars dedicated to infrastructure
projects. Although the Alaskan legislature ultimately overturned her veto, she stood firm on her commitment to help Alaska to become more self-sufficient while not adding to the skyrocketing national debt.

Governor Palin invested $5 billion in state savings. Instead of spending a surplus of money on pork projects, as her legislature desired, she invested the money to make the Alaskan economy more financially stable.

As Governor Palin said, referring to Governor Christie of New Jersey,

"And with all due respect to Governor Christie, you know he has no choice but to cut budgets because he’s broke, his state is broke. What courage really is, is in the face of having a surplus when you have opportunity to spend spend spend other people’s money, you still choose to reign in government to let the private sector soar. That’s real courage, and by the way that’s what I did as Governor here when I engaged in hiring freezes and reduced earmarks by 86% and vetoed the largest amounts in our state’s history. Despite having a surplus that’s real leadership and that’s courage."

Governor Palin also reformed Alaska's public employee retirement system to make it solvent.

But her cuts didn't stop there. She made cuts for herself as well. Governor Palin sold the private jet purchased by the previous governor. She stated it was an unnecessary financial burden on the state, and it was impractical and unable to land on many of the state’s landing strips.

To cut costs that would be incurred by using a personal driver, the governor drove herself from Wasilla to her office in Anchorage. She also dismissed the governor’s personal chef at the Executive Mansion and chose to cook for her family herself.

Governor Palin accepted less state per diem for herself and her family than her predecessors even though she had a larger family. (From:http://www.scribd.com/doc/35447297/Governor-Palin-s-Accomplishments)

Sarah Palin knows what it is to be a mother of a large family. She knows what it is to manage money.

Sarah Palin knows what it is to be a businesswoman and how to manage a business.
She knows what it is to manage a city as a Mayor.

Sarah Palin knows what it is to manage the largest state in the United States as governor. She knows how to make the hard decisions that are best for her state and the people of that state.
Image via Wikipedia
She has the courage.
She has the experience.
She has the knowledge.
She has the desire.

She only needs you.