This is the Intro video for the Fiscal Cliff post. It defines the two ways the “Fiscal Cliff” phrase is used, what it is, and the impact it will have on our country if we do not change course.
Future videos related to this subject that are being considered include:
Avoiding the Fiscal Cliff: There are plans that various organizations, such as the Heritage Foundation, have designed to avoid this problem, and to turn our country back to fiscal responsibility. A video that reviews such a plan would create awareness that there are ways to avoid the fiscal cliff and to have a positive outlook for future generations.
Upper Tax Revenue Limit: Historical data shows there is an upper limit of the amount of federal tax revenue that can be extracted as a ration to GDP, independent of the tax rate. It shows how this phenomenon is related to the Laffer Curve, and why any plan that ignores this limit puts our country in peril.
Defense Spending vs. Debt: Defense spending is not the cause of the Fiscal Cliff as is the belief of many. Showing how defense spending as a ratio of GDP has actually fallen over time shows that this assumption is not true.
The Constitution and Fiscal Responsibility: The Federal Government can print money – the States cannot. When the Federal Government starts doing things reserved to the states per our Constitution, and overspends, it can print the money to meet promises made to the citizens, which leads, over time, to fiscal collapse. This is our current situation. If the states were doing these same things, it has to find real lenders of the moneys it borrows which forces (more) fiscal responsibility. A video that explains this reality using data of state’s debts compared to federal debt would be useful.