Radio Open Source has put out call for bloggers to submit their own State of The Union message, called BOTU - Blogs of the Union.

How could I resist.

Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, distinguished citizens and fellow citizens, every year, by law and by custom, we meet here to consider the state of the union. Today the union appears strong and healthy and vibrant. But appearances can be deceiving.

We find ourselves on the edge of an economic disaster that it may be too late to forestall. We will face tough times ahead, and tough choices.

In the span of a few decades we have transformed ourselves from a nation of producers to a nation of debtors. As a nation and as individuals we consume more than we produce. We spend more than we earn. There will come a day when we can no longer afford to make the payments on the debt and there is nothing else left to borrow.

It is in some ways a credit to the American spirit of optimism and our belief that we as individuals and a nation can accomplish anything, that we borrow today firm in our belief that we will be able to pay tomorrow. But for some time now we have forgotten that tomorrow will come, and those debts will come due.

We no longer save and invest in this country. We no longer look at something we want, be it a big screen TV or or a government program and think of these things as something we must work toward. We do not value these things because they come so cheaply and easily. We simply decide we want them and we borrow to make it happen.

Our economic numbers look good on the surface. GDP is up. Unemployment is down. Inflation is not a concern. These are good times. But this success is driven by consumption not production. By borrowed money not earned wealth. Such a system cannot sustain itself indefinitely.

We need to take action and we need to take action immediately. Not to prevent a credit crisis, but to hopefully lessen it's impact. I cannot as President tell the citizens of this nation how they should run their lives and manage their finances. Those are decision left to the free people of a free nation. What I can do is work to get the finances of the nation, the federal government, under control.

In the coming weeks I will be submitting a budget to the Congress. It is a budget that will challenge them to make some tough choices. My budget will call for a 2% across the board reduction in all federal spending every year for the next 10 years. This is not, as it has been in the past, a reduction in the rate of growth of spending. This is an actual reduction in the amount of money the government will spend. Or in other words a reduction in the amount of money the government will borrow. This will in the case of some entitlement programs require additional legislation beyond the budget resolution. I call upon the congress to address these issues swiftly and decisively.

My fellow citizens, our nation has faced and weathered hard times in the past including the great depression and the runaway inflation and oil embargo of the seventies, and it will do so again. In the years ahead we all, the federal government included, will have to tighten our belts and get our financial houses in order. We can do this. We must do this. We must start now.

For over two centuries America has been a beacon of freedom and prosperity to the world. It is our task, our duty, to not let that light go dark.

Thank you.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 07:33 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment