Realistic approach to economic anemia

Sam Sainsbury, Las Vegas

Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011 | 2:04 a.m.

It did not take long for the GOP to start blaming President Barack Obama for Standard & Poor’s bond rating downgrade. The Republicans’ disconnect from reality is laughable. Let us, for a moment, use a more realistic approach to the economic anemia of our country.

As an example, try going to the bank to obtain a personal loan with an excellent credit score and a debt-to-income ratio that indicates you would have to struggle to make payments based on the terms the bank requires. To obtain the loan, you would probably be required to reduce your debt or increase your income. Simply telling the banker that you promise to spend less in the future would not allow you to proceed with the loan.

The problem is to increase your income to pay down your debt while you curb your spending habits. After having done so, you can return to the bank with a record of proven debt and spending responsibility.

The GOP ideology of cutting spending without increasing income is not realistic. We certainly must curb spending to stop our debt from increasing, but that will only defer the inflation of the future. Income will pay down the debt we have incurred from the past. To reach the goal of being a strong America, both increased income and spending cuts must be in the mix.

Listen to what President Obama is trying to tell us — the message is we need to increase our income.