What If...?

 ...a few months from now President Obama gave a speech like the one I've written below? I think we'll get some version of this down the road. How will Americans react? How would you react?

My fellow Americans:

I stand before you tonight because it's time for every American to understand the path we've been on, where we need to go, and determine the best way to get there. 

We've been blessed to live in America. This is a land of abundance. We have the greatest agricultural system in the world, the finest educational system, and the unique benefits of pooling knowledge and experience from the most divers group of citizens in the history of mankind. However for several years now, in fact, for several decades, we have lived beyond our means. Our deficits have grown at a pace that, if continued unabated, threaten the very existence of our Republic. The national debt is now more than $13 trillion dollars and the projected spending on entitlements in the years ahead will only add to that debt if unchecked. This is unsustainable.

I know that everyone is aware of the financial events going on in Europe. Greece is relatively small country. Their GDP represents only about 2% of the entire European Union. Greece's debt got out of hand and threatened to bring down the entire currency of the Euro zone. In order to rescue the Euro, the member nations coordinated a plan with the IMF, the European Central Banks, and our Federal Reserve. Thanks to bold measures, a catastrophe has been averted. 

But the danger of a recurrence is still there. The European nations recognize their predicament and have taken steps to ensure that the stability of their respective countries remain in tact. In order to achieve long-term success and maintain the belief that their children can look forward to a bright future, the people of Europe have agreed to make sacrifices. For some, it means reduced wages. For many, it may require paying a little bit more when they make a purchase. Without these measures, it is almost certainty that the European economy would completely collapse. If that happened, the chaos and suffering would be horrific.

Folks, if we don't make similar sacrifices, we will soon find ourselves facing the same grave challenges that Europe is now facing. We can't wait any longer. I've put together a plan that will guide us through this time of struggle so that we can get our financial house in order as a country so that we can pass on our dreams to our children and their children.

I realize that many of you are out of work, and without assistance, would not have the resources to feed your family. I'm not going to cut anybody off. But the fact is, in order to continue providing the assistance that so many require, the government has to have the revenue to provide that assistance. We can't continue to borrow the money because there just isn't anywhere left for us to lend from.

In Europe, when citizens purchase an item, the cost includes something called a value added tax. In most countries the rate exceeds 20%. America doesn't even have a value added tax. This additional revenue can be put to use by the government to help pay for the important services that so many of our fellow citizens require. I'm not going to ask Americans to pay 20%, but I think a 5% value added tax is a fair price to pay in order for everyone to do their part in helping our country in this time of great challenges. When a citizen buys something, that citizen, no matter whether he or she is wealthy or poor, will have the satisfaction of knowing they've played a part in saving our country.

Entitlement expenditures are growing at a pace that cannot be sustained. Current projections show that both medicare and social security will be bankrupt before the end of the decade. I want you to know, if you currently collect social security, the government is not going to take away your benefits. Many of you listening tonight have not yet reached retirement age. Did you know that when social security was implemented, the life expectancy for men and women was less than the age where you become eligible to collect benefits? Due to advances in medicine, we now can expect to live much longer than our forefathers. In order to preserve social security so that it will be there for all of us when we reach old age, I'm proposing that we phase out the current age of ability and extend it to 75. We would implement this change over the next 15 years. Most people are still healthy and able to work well into their 70's. now. I've put together a bipartisan commission to study how we can curtail expanding entitlement spending. This was one of their recommendations.

As time goes on, we'll evaluate progress and make other recommendations that will help our country get back on track. 

Thank you and good night.