Government Budget Deficits

We seem to be at a real crossroad with our government’s budget deficits. Our federal government has been spending much more than it has been bringing in for years now. This can't be sustained. What is the answer? We either have to raise taxes or cut spending, or a combination of the two. The solution is simple but the implementation is complicated for political reasons.
My personal belief is that Americans pay enough in taxes. The government doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. The federal government has grown dramatically in the past 50 years and many of the government agencies we have now didn't exist years ago. In 1962, the federal government spent approximately $3,200 per person in the United States. In 2004 it was $7,100, and it’s gone up since then. In 2009 alone, the federal government added nearly 100,000 new employees. The Department of Energy wasn’t even in existence until 1977, and the Department of Education was created in 1979. How did we survive without them?
The fact is we can survive without many of the things the government does (or attempts to do), and we have to. The Founding Fathers of our nation never intended for the federal government to be this large and powerful. It was rightfully understood that an overly burdensome government is a threat to the freedom and prosperity of the people. To quote Thomas Jefferson, “A government big enough to supply you with everything you need is a  overnment big enough to take away everything you have.”
You know what it is like to live within your means in your own household or your business. If the money isn't available you have to reduce your expenses and make tough choices about how you spend your money. We have to expect the same from our government, require elimination of waste and duplication of services, and be willing to give up some things we're used to getting from government.
Nobody likes sacrifice. But the truth is we may not have to make sacrifices if we can get our spending under control and be fiscally responsible so our economy can start moving again by letting the American entrepreneurial spirit take over. Our best days as a country don’t have to be behind us.
/posted by Donnie Cox, CPA