If you are concerned about our country’s economic crisis, you will probably want
to read the new book by Senator Tom Coburn, The Debt  Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop
Washington from Bankrupting America. While the book is sobering in its analysis of the
problem, it is also rather optimistic about how to solve it. I don’t mean it is easy, but
Senator Coburn seems to have more faith in the political system than I do that we can
prevent an economic disaster.

The book opens with a hypothetical scenario where global firms are dumping
their holdings after the federal government fails to get spending under control. The dollar
drops, the price of oil rises, and unrest is in the markets and in the streets.

Senator Coburn was on my radio program recently where we talked about the
four stages of the debt bomb. Stage one occurs when Congress tries to maintain the status
quo on spending and entitlements. In stage two, the United States faces additional credit
downgrades. Stage three of the debt bomb brings an increase in interest rates. This harms
consumers but also send interest payments on the national debt soaring. And in stage
four, inflation soars, and the value of the dollar declines.

Senator Coburn is quite willing to criticize both parties in his book. While he has
been willing to voluntarily term-limit himself, other career politicians stay for decades.
That wouldn’t be so bad if they brought real-world experience to the table. Unfortunately,
most don’t.

His book focuses on real reasons for the debt bomb. The war on terrorism cost
this country plenty in terms of lives and money, but it isn’t the reason we are approaching
a national debt of $16 trillion. Spending on entitlements will bankrupt this nation sooner
rather than later. And he even goes after wasteful defense spending.

I hope Senator Coburn’s belief that we can turn the federal government around is
realistic. We can’t kick the can down the road much longer, because we are just about to
run out of road.