My parents wanted to take us kids to Washington, DC back when we were living in Upper Darby, PA, just outside of Philly. We made it to Longwood Gardens in Kenneth Square, PA. We made it to Atlantic City and their famous board walk on the shores of New Jersey. But seeing Washington, DC (District of Columbia) didn't happen for me until I was an adult.

It was worth the wait.

Our nation's capitol truly is an inspirational place to be. The Lincoln Memorial. The Washington Monument. The capitol city's many museums. The World War II Memorial and Vietnam War's "Wall" to name but a few. Then there is the White House and the Halls of Congress!

Statues, buildings and paintings are all around DC, which stand as quiet reminders of Americans who gave or lead so that we may have the most freedom and prosperity that any nation on earth prior to our founding has ever enjoyed.

Now we have our modern era. We see in the last few decades an ever stronger flirtation (recently, more like a torrid affair…) with socialism and big government. Yet it was individuals exercising personal, spiritual, professional and political liberty that made our's the nation that drew souls from around the globe seeking similar freedoms and opportunities.

Individual liberty, the incentives born of personal responsibility, low taxes and keeping what you earned as incentives made Americans more productive than others. Low energy costs, an abundance of resources and other factors helped us here too.

Eden Revisited

The Book of Genesis describes humanity's "fall," described as Adam and Eve being seduced by the slippery serpent into give up a faithful liberty that gave the pair all that is good for a false promise of being 'like God' if they but ate of the forbidden fruit. It was a message of envy, "us vs. Them" and ended up yielding the couple bitter fruit indeed.

America has never been paradise. Nor has any other nation. But compared to what came before our country's prime-time, no place on earth in the last two millennium offered more people more liberty, prosperity or opportunity than the United States did. What wrongs that were done to women, some minorities – or as some now call them, 'emerging majorities' – were addressed decades ago, and continue to draw efforts at correction.

So why is our nation traveling down a false path of Euro-socialism that has never yielded for others the same false goods being "promised" Americans today?

Russia, Cuba and a host of nations come to mind where 'utopia' was promised, but was never achieved. We need but look at much of Europe, California or Illinois to see that bankruptcy looms if we don't change our national course away from spending so much more than we take in.

The 2013 MHI Legislative Session

Perhaps 100 or so industry professionals will make this year's journey to DC to hear from corporate or association leaders, pro-Industry elected officials and speakers such as commentator Byron York.

What we are not likely to hear enough about are the biggest issues that face our Republic. We will be more focused on:

• Dodd-Frank, SAFE Act and desired financial reform, or

• hoping HUD, CFPB, DOE and others will regulate us more fairly and

• other such goals that seem so important to Manufactured Housing professionals from coast to coast.

Will we hear about the GSE's Duty to Serve (DTS) our industry, made law by HERA 2008? Or is the FHFA's 'reasoning' all it takes to ignore federal law?

All those and more are important, but let's look at a broader picture that leads us and others to such a place in time.

A Broader Picture

What we ought to rouse, remind or (re-) learn is how the United States of America became so great! We must question if the current federal path of high debts, high deficits and a lack of political courage to address fiscal and other issues will lead us to ever more glorious days? Or will it lead us on a path towards fiscal, economic and social ruin that takes us to the ash heap of history?

I'm well aware of the millions – some of whom are relatives, colleagues and friends – who sincerely believe in the policies that brought us to this point. I respect their right to hold their views. I hope they will respect my right to think differently, to question and mention why we are heading down an arguably dangerous path, and why our Industry's issues are symptomatic of far greater problems.

Over-Regulation! Over-Extended!

Our Industry has trouble for many of the same reasons our nation is in trouble! We are over-regulated. We are over-taxed. All for what? There is no balanced budget anywhere in sight. We don't have pro-economic growth policies in DC, we have pro-big government policies instead.

Is the sky is falling? Not.

Montana's Democratic Senator Max Baucus admits that the White House proposed the sequester that President Obama is now railing against. There are YouTube videos that show President Obama threatening to veto any attempt to change the sequester, which he now wants to ask Congress to undo. What happened to those promises of post partisanship and transparency? What happened to promises of a balanced budget?

The sequester is only 2.4% – some 86 billion of the estimated 3.8 trillion of the federal budget, or only some 72 hours of federal spending. The sequester is a trim (yes, a ham handed, uneven one) of an increase in federal spending. It is not a cut, despite the rhetoric. All the "sky is falling" talk in much of the media is no more real than when Chicken Little proclaimed it in story land.

Staggered furloughs for a really long unpaid weekend and some belt tightening could resolve it all. But instead, we are told with hype and stage craft, of alleged calamities to begin March 1, 2013. Think 2012 Mayan Calendar; don't worry, the world and our nation will go on!

But you know what? This sequester isn't a nearly big enough 'solution,' as you will see below.

Slights of hand that hide the ball

Our economy, jobs – and our Industry – could all come roaring back if we just get sanity back into the federal government. We can't just throw our hands up and walk away. It is our dollars they are playing with in DC, our debt and that of the next generation that they are rolling up!

Fairness?

Since when is it 'fair' to tax you for money you earned, to be given to another who did not earn it?

Since when is it 'fair' to regulate the your use of your money, resources – and de facto, time – so that bureaucrats that generally don't know you or your profession can tell you what you can or can't do?

As some of us walk in Washington DC amidst the statues, monuments and buildings that remind us of our freedom and heritage, we need to ask, when will that silent majority of We, the People say enough?

Solution oriented Suggestions

The start of the fixes are easier than we are lead to think.

The House of Representatives holds the power of the purse strings! Why not call your legislator and request the following:

> 1) Vote for NO funds for ObamaCare. No money, no program. It is that simple. We would still have Medicaid, Medicare, private plans and some measure of medical freedom. We can still craft a real health care reform bill. The savings that would result from de-funding ObamaCare is some $1.3 trillion over ten years, or a $130 billion annual average. The Tax Foundation says this will also save 80 million man hours of paper work a year (Bloomberg cites the House Ways and Means Committee estimate of 127.6 million man hours per annum). To put that in perspective, it took only 7 million man hours to build the 102 story tall Empire State Building.

> 2) Vote to consolidate programs and truly cut waste, fraud and corruption. There is considerable duplication of a number of programs, plus more money lost to fraud, waste and corruption. This could yield savings of an estimated 20% of the federal budget a year. That's some 760 billion dollars annually, at the current pace.

> 3) Vote to bring ALL our overseas based military home by 2015, including, over and above 'war' costs. When did we become the world's unpaid cop? Let's stop that, as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both advised. Let's defend America and our borders, while keeping the ability to project strength when needed. Savings of about 100 billion a year.

> 4) Simplify taxes and regulations. Savings to business and individuals to simplify the tax code, per Forbes, would be 6.1 billion man hours a year. Bloomberg says regulatory compliance totals 9.1 billion man hours a year.

> 5) Vote to fast track federal leases for oil, gas and other domestic energy resources.

Numbers 1-3 above would directly save some 990 billion annually, or about 56% of the annual deficit.

The economic boom caused by all 5 of the above in time and money freed up would likely balance the budget before President Obama leaves office, because Presidents Kennedy, Reagan and Clinton all learned that cutting taxes, regulatory costs and freeing up the private sector creates more federal revenues and leads to more job creation too.

We can rapidly move back to a surplus that pays down the debt. That would further reduce the federal budget.

It took me an hour or so to pull together some of the numbers for this via Google searches on topics related to the above, plus the time to write this column up. Are we to believe that some Congressional and Senatorial staffers have not already done this math? Or could they put it together in a few days?

Answer? YouBetcha.

The Alternative

In a televised interview, a 30-something mother explained that it would be hard for her to go back to the work-a-day-world. She was on a bevy of public aid programs. She candidly talked about the hassle it would be to have to get up again in the morning, to fight traffic to go to work, and what would she do with the kids? What she had right now was easier. Why should she strain to change it?

Therein lies part of the rub for millions in the U.S..

Every wise business owner knows you create incentives to reward the behavior you desire. Besides the budgetary issues, the problem with too many 'aid' programs is there is no easy off ramp, but the on ramp is virtually advertised. This is where private charity is superior to government programs. There is less or no incentive to create permanent dependency and to continually grow a budget with faith-based or other private charity.

Stop and think! Before big brother government, what did the American people do when faced with a personal or financial challenge?

As we have stated before, whatever you subsidize, you tend to get more of, so no wonder poverty, food stamps and a host of other programs are out of control.

Don't think party labels or posturing. Think common sense. Think, the Congress is supposed to work for us! For We, the People.

Let the Congress fund nothing more until something like the above gets done. Just tell your Representative by phone, fax, letter or email that you will stand by them if they stand by this kind of basic, common sense concept. Let them improve on this, but don't let them do less.

If they fail us, let them be beaten in the next primaries!

It is in our hands

The notion that you or any voter thinks of themselves as powerless is part of what the political elite counts upon. The idea that this is all 'too complicated' for John and Jane American is another part of the ruling elite's political calculus. Please, don't let them get away with it!

Because the country we can and ought to save or lose is our own.

Enough musing for today. I'm looking forward to the MHI Legislative session. I'm looking forward to walking again and to be inspired amidst the many reminders of our greatness in DC. We hope to share a report once it all wraps up, and I get caught up from a week on the road.

I hope to see you at the Tunica Show. ##

(Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons)

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L. A. "Tony" Kovach

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