When I began this project to balance the Federal budget, I didn't know I'd end up pulling my hair out by the roots. Never having actually looked at that budget, before, I didn't realize just how out-of-control it is. If I hadn't taken on this project, I never would have believed that the United States could be bankrupt. But bankrupt we are, even though the Government takes in more than $2 trillion in taxes, every year.
I thought that I'd be able to exercise a little Libertarian principle, in making my cuts to the budget. I thought I'd be able to say, "That's unConstitutional, so out it goes." But the truth is that I have very little real discretion. Everything must go, or we'll have to borrow more money. As I said when I began this project, our nation's debt exposes us to economic blackmail. If we hope to retain our independence, as a nation, it is imperative that we stop borrowing. So I continue to make cuts.
The next Agency on the chopping block is the Export-Import Bank of the United States. This Agency lends money to companies that export American products. That may be a worthy program, and its demise is likely to reduce American exports, further reducing our Gross National Product. Closing it down may well cause the economy to shrink, as every cut I've made, so far, will cause the economy to shrink. And a shrinking economy means fewer taxes coming in to the Government. So the budget will have to be further reduced, next year, causing a further shrinking of the economy, and on and on, in a vicious cycle. This is the consequence of decades of reckless over-spending.
I wish I could convey the anguish I feel, over what I'm having to do. But I tell myself that an even worse fate lies before us, as a nation, if we do not rein in our spending. If we continue to borrow and spend in this reckless fashion, our future as a free people will be in jeopardy. It is better to be poor and free than it is, to live in chains. If we become slaves, food will taste like ashes in our mouths, even should that food be the finest of delicacies. If we remain free, we have hope for a brighter future that we can build for ourselves. If we descend into slavery, there will be no foreseeing the end of the darkness.
The Export-Import Bank is closed. That's $13.8 billion saved. $280.8 billion left to go.