It seems like one thing we could use a lot more of in this country is common sense.

<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/common-sense.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1839" title="Posted @ Funny-Picks.com" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/common-sense-300x268.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="268" /></a>As we approach the end of a pretty nasty year, with 20 little kids murdered at school in Connecticut, our politicians in Washington are trying to find a way to extend the longest, stupidest spree our government has ever been on. For the last 12 years, we have been spending too much and taxing too little, and all we have really done is totally destroy people's confidence that elected officials could possible be concerned with anything more than perpetuating their careers.

When Bill Clinton left office in January 2001, if we hadn't exactly solved our deficit and debt problems, we at least seemed to be on the right track. We had a federal budget that was at least technically in surplus and it looked as if we would be able to pay down the national debt.

Then we lost our common sense.

George W. Bush came into office and said that if we have these surpluses, it means people are paying too much in taxes and we need to cut the rates to give money back to them.

The emperor had no clothes, but nobody would listen.

<!--more-->Let's put this in terms of a family's budget:

For 10 years, you're forced to live beyond your means. You run up debts of $50,000. But in the 11th year, you finally reach a point where you're making enough money that you don't have to go any deeper into debt. You even have $5,000 extra a year to reduce those debts. The heck with that, you say. I'm going to Hawaii. So you don't pay your debts down, and when your situation worsens a few years later, your debts just keep getting bigger and bigger.

<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/123853_600.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1840" title="123853_600" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/123853_600-235x300.jpg" alt="" width="235" height="300" /></a>I want to try and write this without blaming either side, even though most of you know where I stand. Despite the fact that our tax burden is the lowest it has been in more than 80 years, Republicans say we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. And even though our deficit and the overall debt are at horrific levels, Democrats seem to think all we need to do is raise taxes on the rich and we'll be all right.

They're both wrong, but that doesn't mean the answer is way off on the left or right. The answer is in the middle.

Raise taxes some, cut spending some. Do it delicately because the economy is still in bad shape. But make it transparent enough and clear enough that people see that nobody is getting a sweet deal or a free ride.

I just received a notification that my Social Security checks will go up by about 1.7 percent next year. To me that means $21 more a month. I certainly can't speak for all beneficiaries -- Social Security is only a small part of my family income -- but I know I would forgo that $252 a year if it helped balance the federal budget and ultimately reduce the debt.

Common sense? Maybe. It sure seems sensible to consider the fact that we spend as much on our military as nearly everyone else in the world combined. Some cuts in spending there wouldn't hurt. And what about the billions in subsidies that we give to oil companies that are making record profits? That doesn't seem sensible.

Sadly, some of the best ways to save money are politically controversial. We spend twice as much per capita on health care as Western Europe and Canada and they get better results than we do. There's just no reason for the hundreds of billions of dollars we as consumers spend on insurance companies.

It always seemed to me that a good rule of thumb would be that things we don't need -- luxuries -- should be subject to the profit motive, but things that we absolutely need -- like health care -- should not be something off which people make money.

Of course, there you're talking about redoing the whole economy. That's much more of a long-term idea. In the short run, though, the one thing we ought to demand from our politicians is common sense.

Republicans, taxes are going to have to go up on the rich.

Democrats, we have to take a look at reining in entitlements.

It's only common sense, but we're going to demand that of you.

Otherwise, things will get ugly.

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