We have this year, 2010, to restore confidence to the foreign countries, worldwide investors and our fellow Americans who are holding our federal bonds and treasury notes. The way things look now, the question about America's soon-to-be $14.3 trillion debt is that it doesn't look good for investors. In fact, most think it isn't if America's financial debt problem will reach a crisis stage it is when.

I predict that unless America can show the world we are taking corrective steps to balance our budget and start paying down our debt, all our lenders will sell our treasury bonds and notes and not hold the American dollar. If we have nothing to back up our dollar and we keep printing more, we will see runaway inflation in America.

This lengthy article is going to offer some suggestions which will help us curb spending, and most importantly, grow revenues.

Cutting spending when the need for social spending is growing rapidly and indiscriminately raising taxes on America's lower and middle income Americans is counter-productive. As we all realize, putting Americans back to work is the way to grow revenues (this is not going to happen in 2010 unless we get fair world trade agreements that are enforced.)

Also, we must provide poor and lower income Americans with the incentive to join the workforce. To do this, we must increase the minimum wage by $3 an hour. There has to be a greater difference between what a person gets for working and what they receive for not working.

We must stop the Senate and House health care reform bills. While we provide health care for 45 to 50 million non-insured citizens and illegal immigrants, we are mandating all health care costs be paid for by big and small business. This is going to add to unemployment in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. When we are trying to create jobs in America, this is highly counter-productive to job growth.

I don't think the politicians in Washington (Republicans and Democrats) have the intestinal fortitude (guts) to initiate the tax increases which will be needed to balance our budget and allow us to start paying down our debt.

As the Republicans have done since 1980, we have not advocated a large federal tax hike since Bush Senior said "Read my lips" (no tax increases). He did increase taxes and, of course, became a one-term president. So to get elected to Washington, you must listen to the public, tell them what they want to hear, and in the next sentence tell them you are not going to raise taxes.

This is what Karl Rove told two-term President George W.: "Don't raise taxes ... deficits don't matter."

To the American people (this includes disgruntled conservative Republicans who are trying to make a political statement with their "Tea Party" tax revolts) I say: Where were you when George W. put America in debt to the tune of $6 trillion? Yes, Tea Party people, deficits do matter and we have to pay that debt plus interest. There is no free lunch and there is no free money.

The old Republican war cry of "Cut spending and cut taxes" is not the answer. However, will Americans vote for someone who says "We are going to raise your taxes"? I don't think so. (Remember Presidential candidate George McGovern, who honestly said he would have to raise taxes? He didn't win one state.)

To balance our federal budget we will need tax increases; however, these tax increases will hurt the economy if they increase the need for social spending.

The globalization of the American economy and the American financial system itself is in the best interests of the world economy first and the American economy second. The legislation needed in 2010 to restore confidence to our lenders that we will balance our budget and start paying down our debt will require us to put America first and the world economy second.

Have we got enough of our national sovereignty left to control our own economic destiny? Briefly, here is what needs to be done.

WE all know we need to put Americans back to work if we are going to balance our federal budget.

Until we get out of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and insist on fair trade agreements we will not get job growth in our economy.

INCREASE THE MINIMUM WAGE BY $3 PER HOUR

This would increase the taxes paid to state and federal government. It would help the growth of the economy because 100 percent of the $3 per hour increase will go straight into consumer spending, which is two-thirds of our economy. It will save the states hundreds of thousands of dollars that are now needed to subsidize American workers who are not being paid a living wage.

This $3 per hour increase in the minimum wage would provide an incentive for Americans on welfare to join the workforce.

We cannot let the National Chamber of Commerce fight every proposed hike in the minimum wage as if it were going to cause runaway inflation or ignite labor unions to demand higher wages and benefits. Believe me, union workers are more worried about job security than wage and benefit increases. Although along with the $3 per hour increase in the minimum wage we can institute a federal wage freeze on all union workers' pay. It is way past time we let non-union workers' pay increase to a living wage.

In my opinion, the National Chamber of Commerce is a tool of big business to get cheap labor which needs to be subsidized by the taxpayers.

A $3 per hour increase in the minimum wage would increase tax revenues, decrease safety net spending, and would spur consumer spending. It is a win, win, win situation.

HEALTH CARE REFORM

The current health care bill in the Senate and House will be a job killer. Let's face facts - 45 to 50 million Americans do not have health care insurance, but they do have health care. For our federal government to mandate big and small businesses to provide health insurance not only for their employees, but for the other 45 to 50 million Americans who are receiving health care but not paying for it, is ridiculous.

Both health care reform bills are socialistic boondoggles incognito. They put the cost of health care on the backs of businesses who are the very ones we look to create job growth.

Health care, like Social Security, must be paid for directly out of all citizens' paychecks. We must adopt the Canadian health care system and adopt a single payer provider.

THE IRS MUST BE REPLACED

The IRS is not producing the revenues needed to grow our economy. The fact that more poor and lower income Americans pay little or no taxes and the rich and big business have tax loopholes, plus the growing number of Americans who don't even file any income taxes, compiled with many tax cheaters - it's little wonder why federal revenues are declining when they should be increasing.

We also have a growing underground economy in America as more and more Americans and illegals are dealing with cash only and not paying any income taxes. This underground economy is at least $500 billion a year.

We must have a national consumption tax (aka national volume added or national sales tax) as of Jan. 1, 2011. We can make it 10 percent on everything. Five percent of this national consumption tax goes to the federal government and five percent goes to the states to pay for the unfunded mandates the federal government passes.

Also, as of 2011 the IRS should cut IRS taxes in half and make them much more simple.

In a year or two, if the national consumer tax increases federal and state revenues, we can double it to 20 percent and nearly eliminate the IRS.

A national value added sales tax will let America receive revenues from goods sold In America by slave labor countries and eliminate the cash-only underground economy.

AMERICA NEEDS A JOB GROWTH COMMISSION

America needs a "Job Growth Commission" to ensure American workers a fair share in an unfair global marketplace, where only America practices free world trade.