The Hill News

In light of Congress's failure to wrestle up short-term cost-cutting measures for our country, we must not lose sight of longer-term concerns about the sustainability of our deficits, debts and, ultimately, our budgets.  While we tempt deadlines now, trimming where feasible, we will land in this position on multiple occasions in the future unless we reform radically or restructure the way in which America does its business.   

We are not, however, suggesting radical reforms in ways that Washington has already witnessed.  We are recommending a rethink in how we deal with a range of realities prevalent in all 50 states, not just Washington.  It may seem self-evident but the high rates of violent crime, homicides, incarceration, policing and the availability of small arms, are costing this country hundreds of billions of dollars, and millions of jobs, per year.

Illustrating how much money America is mismanaging, the first-ever U.S. Peace Index, launched t! his year by the Institute for Economics and Peace, cites conservative estimates of the economic effect if the U.S. were on par with Canadian policy on all five aforementioned fronts: $361 billion per year and a stimulatory effect of 2.7 million jobs.  Given America’s high debt and high unemployment, it could benefit from both of these boosts. 

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