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T.M.'s Book Review: The Debt Bomb
©2012 Senator Tom Coburn with John Hart
Published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville Tennessee
349 pages with numerous charts, graphs, index, and list of official reports available to the public.
ISBN: 978-1-59555-467-3
I recently read The Debt Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop Washington from Bankrupting America. The title tells us exactly what this well-written book is about. Our national debt is a bomb more dangerous than any nuke or chemical weapon known to man. While we spend billions chasing a few terrorists around the world, our politicians are killing our economy, and our freedoms, with rampant, unfunded spending.
Senator Coburn lays out the facts and history of our debt problem in thirteen chapters and three appendixes with a summary of his thoughts in the final seventeen pages. A Republican from Oklahoma, the author castigates members of both major political parties for what they have done to help bring our economy to the edge of chaos. The book is full of stories of politician’s gone loony with our money, and ways to prevent their excesses in the future.
As I prepare this review, the news media is full of ‘fiscal cliff’ reports, name-calling, the sky is falling, and assigning of blame for our economic woes. The US Senate is debating legislation to send financial aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy with numerous unrelated earmarks attached to increase our deficit. Obviously, it is still business as usual. At a time of what I consider a national emergency, our elected officials should be lined up with ideas and proposals to get us out of debt, not pile on more.
We have just that in this book full of specific proposals to solve a specific problem. There are also reports on the author’s web site addressing the problem of our debt. Some folks believe the debt bomb will cause the collapse of our economy and our nation. As individuals, we can address our concerns to our elected officials. If they are unresponsive, we can fire them.
On a personal level for preppers, this book is a good case for eliminating our household debt. A lack of debt makes your home, vehicles, and possessions yours, not the bank. You have no worry of foreclosure or repossession. The money you save in interest payments can be used for supplies.
During the Great Depression, farmers in the Dust Bowl lost their family farms over small mortgages they could not pay because of one failed crop. Because of the recent housing bubble collapse, tens of thousands of families have been evicted for failure to pay their mortgages. Thousands of properties are mortgaged for more than they are worth and the owners are stuck in a financial nightmare. Some people believe it is un-American to not have a mortgage and car payments. Wrong. Do everything you can to eliminate your family debt and you increase the security of your entire family more than a full pantry or a well stocked gun locker.
I recommend this book for preppers because it is so readable and full of common sense.
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