Kurt Erickson
May 20, 2008

In response to Jim Fisher's editorial of May 9, I am going to explain my plan to balance the budget, and eliminate the oppressive Internal Revenue Service. For those who believe that tax and spend is the only way, I will write slowly.

Eighty percent of thinking Americans are very concerned with our economic crisis. Every agency is bloated and wasteful. The difference between the undisciplined spending habits of government and a drunken sailor is at least the sailor spends his own money. The only legitimate solution is to aggressively reduce the size, power and spending limits of the federal agencies. We should eliminate many of them, and shift the responsibility to individuals and the states where they can be limited and managed more prudently.

All foreign aid should be suspended. As a representative, I will join other representatives regardless of party affiliation, to balance the budget, reduce government and eliminate the IRS.

Let's look at the cost of the Social Security dilemma. According to the Government Accountability Office, for fiscal year 2006 for instance, the cost for Social Security was about 21 percent of budget expenditures. Under my plan, we could eliminate that entirely by shifting to a free market alternative.

Each one of us can obtain from the Social Security Administration a statement of earnings for our own accounts. That amount could be deposited into an individual's exclusive interest-bearing credit union account for people who have more than 10 years or more before retiring. Those currently receiving benefits or who would in the next 10 years would not have to participate in this plan.

By law, the recipient, as well as the government, would be forbidden from touching it. The account holder would deposit by automatic payroll deduction, at a reasonable amount of around 7 percent of gross income. This, over 30 years, would accumulate a very significant amount, which would gain interest. In your current Social Security account, there is no interest, and the dollar lost 11 percent of its value last year.

Upon death, the remaining funds will be transferred to your designated beneficiaries' retirement accounts, which you cannot do with the current system. Additionally the account holder could deposit any other additional funds that he/she feels is necessary.

Why a credit union instead of a commercial bank? This is because under the existing banking rules, a credit union is more deposit-responsible, locally owned and controlled by its members. Also, credit unions tend to have a more local and regional investing policy. Whereas the cost is shifted to the local level, under this plan the administrative cost is far outweighed by the benefits of local investment, and the power restored to the people to control their own retirement.

According to the same government source, Medicare and Medicaid were about 19 percent of the 2006 budget. These programs, like Social Security, are inherently mismanaged and riddled with fraud. Almost daily we read reports of multitudes receiving benefits without ever contributing. The way to remedy the problem is to eliminate federal oversight, and encourage a symbiotic relationship between private businesses and responsible citizens.

Over $21 billion per year are given to other nations to support their peoples, military and even their banking systems. Many of these countries greatly dislike America, or they are only our allies during fair weather. Let's put at least that much into setting up free-market accounts as alternatives to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. With the elimination of those federal bureaucracies from the budget, it would provide for the needs of our people.

Because of space limitations, I cannot explain here my plan to reduce our military waste and global empire while still providing the people a stronger, better and more efficient military defense. On my Web site (www.erickson2008.com) are more details of my position on this issue as well as facts about where our money is being wasted.

With over a $9 trillion national debt, and over $40 trillion owed to the people in federal entitlement programs (which will overtake our entire tax revenue in a few years), it is obvious that the federal experiment has been a total failure.

It is time that the legislative branch begins to lead by example, and I support reducing the pay of all members of the U.S. House and Senate by 10 percent each year the federal budget is not balanced.

Let us boldly go where few dare to tread. The answer to the fiscal problems of the federal government is a constitutional relationship between the state governments, free market alternatives and the people.