The President is telling the American people that tax cuts are the answer to revive our economy. The bigger the better, sooner rather than later. If the President had his way, we would see a $750 Billion tax relief package in the very near future, though the pundits estimate that he will only get to see half of that. Are tax cuts the answer to tuning up the American economic engine?

As the Republicans debate how much, the Democrats talk about how little. They caution that increasing the federal budget deficit will decrease badly needed benefits to Americans who are already short on jobs. Tom Dashchle assures us that the Republicans will only cut taxes for the rich and will not turn the economy around in any way. Do you agree with the President or the Senator? For myself, I believe neither.

Alan Greenspan has a crystal ball that allows him to balance growth and inflation in such a way that no two economics professors can agree on what he's doing. War protesters define the economic problem as "more bombs equals fewer books." Wall street investors are the only analysts that we hear from in the papers or the talk shows, yet is concern about investment portfolios the same as expressing concern about Johnny Q. Citizen's job? Who is right? Is it the Republicans, Democrats, the Unions, Wall Street, Social Activists, Small Business Owners, or Rush Limbaugh? Their answers are generally correct, though it should be noted that they only answer questions that they ask themselves. That is another trick of the "spin" that dominates our national agenda.

Of all of the groups I've mentioned above, each are obligated to themselves, not you. If I were to suggest that politicians want to get re-elected, Wall Street wants corporate profit, and the rest of the bunch want to control some aspect of the budget pie or otherwise enhance their agenda, would you think it an outlandish statement? Who cares about you? That isn't a rhetorical question, I'd like you to spend a moment and consider an answer. When was the last time you heard someone other than myself suggest buying American as a partial solution to our economic woes?

When I buy something on credit because I can't afford to pay for it up front, I am not ruining my life as I can make the payments. Should I do this repeatedly, increasing my total debt to more than I will earn in three years, I will have a problem. In other words, a $250 billion annual budget deficit won't ruin the economy, but our $6 trillion debt sure doesn't help. Based on projected government revenues, we would need to spend every single penny of our national budget for three years to pay off the national debt.

The argument is made that tax relief has always spurred the economy forward, and that's true. Yet there is a dynamic in play today that didn't exist in prior stimulus packages, and nullifies the historic economic model of tax relief benefits. The term is outsourcing, and two out of every three American corporations will do it this year, unopposed by Washington or Wall Street. "Near shore" outsourcing is sending our jobs to Mexico and Canada. "Off shore" outsourcing is sending our jobs to China and elsewhere. This being said, how does it benefit one community or one family to buy televisions, cell phones, stereos, and computers that are made overseas? In five short years, our trade deficit has grown from less than $200 billion to $500 billion. Now that's a deficit that should concern you, all courtesy of outsourcing and foolish greed, our greed.

You, the American investor, demand that your stock portfolio values come back up. For that to happen, corporations believe they need to produce profit that comes from shutting down a factory in Chattanooga and building it in Shanghai. As we listen to shallow sound bytes and wait for Washington D.C. and Wall Street to come up with an answer, not one of our national organizations speak of developing a domestic market for American products, none.

Memo to whining American: When you tell corporations that you'll buy their product when they make it in America, we'll improve our economy. When just a small percentage of businesses abandon outsourcing in exchange for securing American market share, we'll improve our economy. When Americans reward companies for building in Topeka instead of Hong Kong by buying their products, we'll improve our economy.

The problem isn't that we aren't contributing enough to the federal government, the problem is that the government spends too much money. Our budget this year is approximately $2 trillion dollars. Some of you may be thinking that our recent military actions are the cause of the deficit. You would be wrong. Even with the war on terror, liberating Afghanistan and Iraq, and upgrading our defense capabilities, our Defense budget is still under $400 billion, and I for one believe it money well spent. What the hell is the government doing with the other $1.6 trillion?

The answer is spending it. During the 107th Congress, the House of Representatives alone submitted more than 1,700 resolutions. Some of these resolutions are minor administrative parts of running our government on a day to day basis, though many are not. Tom Daschle frequently blames the "President's" budget. Yes, the President submits the budget, yet in our system of checks and balances the President has zero authority to allocate funds, which is a function of congress. The process consists of literally thousands of compromises that are generally a process of "I'll support your project if you support mine." Every elected official in Congress must submit bills, legislation, and bring money home to their local constituents, or we won't re-elect them. This is frequently referred to as the "pork barrel," and the first part of the next election cycle.

Are the politicians then to blame? Americans continually talk about reducing waste in our government, yet we re-elect politicians on the condition that they bring that waste home to our community. If they don't submit legislation, we believe them to be inactive. If they don't support another politician's pork barrel bridge funds in exchange for his support of your pork barrel courthouse funds, we believe them to be neither working hard enough for us nor "bringing home the bacon," and we won't re-elect them. On this count, the politician is responding to an American citizen that supports this process rather than oppose it, so I have hard time blaming anybody but us.

What political party or organization demands fewer expenditures, laws that we can understand, accountability from each federal agency, or any other act of responsibility? We the people neither inform ourselves nor think for ourselves. We align ourselves with extreme positions spun from the left and the right and call everyone else wrong. Travelling this present course, our economy should turn around in approximately... never. Now that I've outlined the problem, please allow me the opportunity to provide the solution.

Stop buying goods made by worthy citizens of some other country. If you can't find a product made in America, call the corporation that sells it and demand they produce at least a percentage of their products in the U.S.of A. Tell corporations that you will punish them for selling our country's economy, to include manufacturing, informational technology, and service jobs, to the cheapest bidder. Tell your Senator or Congressman that if he or she doesn't work toward spending less and accounting more, you will fire them at the end of their term. Convince Wall Street that companies that put Americans to work will reap the financial rewards of having brand loyalty from 290 million consumers. While you're at it, you might want to ask them why it is against federal regulations to tell an investor which corporations support American jobs. They won't tell me, and I am beyond confused at that one.

To the government, I say reduce our taxes and spend less. To our businesses, I say stop selling our nation to line your pockets. To my fellow Americans, I say stop listening to spin masters that are dumbing us down with rhetoric and think for yourselves. Ask honest questions, seek truthful information, and draw your own conclusions, whatever they are. Don't believe everything that any politician, media pundit, organization, or Dave Scholl, says. First become informed, then decide for yourself what you believe.

There is only one group in the U.S. that can turn our economy around. That group is called the Citizens of the United States of America. You don't have to join that group, you're already a member. You don't have to qualify for that group, our forefathers paid your entry dues with their blood. You don't have to oppose another group with shallow sound bytes, only stand up for your group with sincerity and honesty. You do however, have a decision to make. Accept the associated responsibility that is your privilege and your right, or line up like a cow at the slaughter house as interest groups, politicians, and extremists of every ilk happily take you there.