By Ty Cobb Jr.

I was but a toddler during World War II, but I remember rationing and the rationing stamp booklets that permitted my family to purchase a scant amount of rationed items, such as, gasoline. I also remember my mother adding a red powder to a white creamy substance that we used in place of butter; today we call that oleo!
We now find ourselves fighting a war against terrorism. Fortunately, due to America’s blessed wealth, we do not need to ration. However, we have another “war” to worry about — the war against our rising national debt (well over $13.8 trillion; 2010 interest on that debt was $414B) which currently is projected to fall on the backs of our children and grandchildren and has the potential to wreck the whole world’s economy. Shame on us for sitting by and allowing this situation to go unchecked.
It is time for us all to rise to the challenge as did the “greatest generation” in their sacrificing and “bond buying” to provide the materials needed to win WW II. So what must we do?
In order to ease the pains of the required sacrifice, we need a national plan whereby we all sacrifice a little over a period of three to five years. And, it needs to start with our elected “leaders.” Good leaders lead by example. So, start by reducing congressional and presidential pay by, say, 10 percent. (U.S. House Speaker-elect John Boehner said on “60 Minutes” that he plans to cut all U.S. House members’ operating budgets by 5 percent. Good start, but why not 10 percent?) I repeat, good leaders lead by example. Freeze federal workers pay at current levels. Freeze Social Security payouts, except for the lowest half of SS recipients. Raise Social Security retirement age to 64 and 67 vice 62 and 65. Raise Medicare contributions by 5 percent. Freeze government retirement payouts at current levels. (Now, don’t get mad at me, because the preceding cuts will affect me. I am simply willing to do without to relieve this debt from my six grandchildren.) But, also allow those retired who are willing to work to do so without government interference.
We must all learn to do without for a little while to permit down paying of the national debt. And that means the federal government absolutely must cut spending and cut it now. How do we do that?
Start, leaders, with no “earmarks” for your favorite home district projects (like the “bridge to nowhere”) for at least two years. Do not do away with, but reduce, by say 10 percent, farm subsidies, foreign aid (maybe 25 percent cut), and other federal government programs that subside a whole host of “special interest” fancies. Cut all federal departments by 8-10 percent, except defense and homeland security, which would be frozen at the previous year’s spending. At the same time, Congress needs to loosen controls on departments’ ability to “move funding around” to assure that the most critical problems get proper attention.
You say it cannot be done. Well, the Charlotte Observer told me the same thing when I ran for the U.S. House in 2008. o ask Lee Iacocca. In his autobiography, Mr. Iacocca tells the story of his early trials when he took over (late ’70s) a failing Chrysler Corporation that needed an government bailout. Called all his department heads in and told them they had three days to reduce their budgets by 10 percent and come back and tell him how they would do it. “Oh, yes. And, if you cannot do it, bring your letter of resignation with you.” You guessed it! They did it. And, Chrysler paid back their government loans ahead of schedule and with interest.
As the national debt falls to a manageable level in two or three years, reduced programs could be reinstated, but only if the debt is at a “manageable” level.
Nike says, “Just do it!” My West Point class motto is “Can Do.” If you want to do something, you can do it. Leaders, Congress, you too can do it. So … do it!
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