Miller: U.S. Going Bankrupt, States Need Control

Tea-Party-backed Joe Miller, who could become the Republican nominee for the Senate if he brings down incumbent Lisa Murkowski, warned that the U.S. is going bankrupt and that "everybody in this nation is going to have to do some belt-tightening."

Miller told CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday that he supports asking the government for less federal money.

"I think Alaska ranks about second per capita of the amount of federal dollars that come in to the state," host Bob Schieffer said. [According to statistics by the Brookings Institution, for FY 2008 Alaska received $2,574.68 in Federal dollars per capita, behind only Vermont and the District of Columbia.]

"You've said that we can't afford all that federal money that's pouring into Alaska. Should Alaska get less money from the federal government?" Schieffer asked.

"I don't think anybody can [claim] - sitting at $13.3 trillion in absolute debt, by some estimates $130 trillion in future unfunded obligations - that we are in any way in a good financial state," Miller said.

"The answer to this is to basically transfer the responsibilities and power of government back to the states and the people. That is really the only answer, I think, out of this crisis," Miller said.

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"As we continue to tighten our belts because fiscally that's critical for the economic solvency of this nation, we also transfer it to the states more power. That means more ownership of lands. It's not a situation where you just yank the financial plug, but at the same time you're transferring over discretion over the use of the resource base," Miller said.

"In this state, two-thirds of it is owned by the federal government. There really isn't a good constitutional basis for that," Miller said. "It's our position that as the money is restricted, the lands are transferred."

A Miller victory would end a 30-year period when either Lisa Murkowski or her father represented Alaska in the United States Senate. At last count he was running about 1,700 votes ahead. It may be two weeks before the final outcome is known.

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Schieffer noted that Miller has also taken controversial and even extreme positions. "First you say you want to phase out Medicare. You want to privatize Social Security. I have to say there are a lot of people in Alaska who are on Medicare and are getting Social Security. Isn't that position going to be a problem for you in the [general] election?"

"I would suggest to you that if one thinks that the Constitution is extreme, then you would also think that the founders are extreme," Miller said. "We just simply want to get back to basics, restore essentially the constitutional foundation of our country.

"That means the federal government becoming less onerous, less involved in basically every item of our lives," he continued. "What that means is there does have to be some transition. With respect to Social Security, what we've said consistently throughout this race is that if you've paid into the system, if you're dependent on the system, we have got to get the fiscal house in order at the national level so that we can continue to pay those benefits. But to suggest that there is nothing that can be done, that we have to continue as the way things are, ignores the fact that the trust fund is empty - it's full of IOUs."

A recent government report shows that Social Security is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes for the first time this year and next year. The Social Security trust fund is expected to be exhausted in 2037.

"We have to look at all the options that are out there, including privatization," Miller said. "It's something certainly that [President George W.] Bush championed in his first administration, something that Rep. [Paul] Ryan is looking at. I believe that it is irresponsible, it is basically part of the crisis of leadership in D.C., to not look at Social Security and understand that there has got to be a solution posed. We've got to take a look at it and make sure that we create a solution so our seniors aren't left out in the cold."

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[bajajohn1]

Miller is wrong about transferring money policy back to the states as most of the states are near bankruptcy and the people are already taxed to the limit.

[010sonny]

Origin of funding will give us all an understanding of who is paying for these proper ganders and their pitiful followers. How easily the weak minded is manipulated to such an extent that they would choose their own destruction when told so to do. Perhaps this will show people why Tea party and republicans do not want disclosures of the origins of funds as Obama has been trying to bring to the floor. Who are pulling your strings;
?The other major sponsor of the Tea Party movement is Dick Armey?s FreedomWorks, which, like Americans for Prosperity, is promoting events in Washington this weekend. Under its original name, Citizens for a Sound Economy, FreedomWorks received $12 million of its own from Koch family foundations. Using tax records, Mayer found that Koch-controlled foundations gave out $196 million from 1998 to 2008, much of it to conservative causes and institutions. That figure doesn?t include $50 million in Koch Industries lobbying and $4.8 million in campaign contributions by its political action committee, putting it first among energy company peers like Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Since tax law permits anonymous personal donations to nonprofit political groups, these figures may understate the case. The Kochs surely match the in-kind donations the Tea Party receives in free promotion 24/7 from Murdoch?s Fox News, where both Beck and Palin are on the payroll.
The New Yorker article stirred up the right, too. Some of Mayer?s blogging detractors unwittingly upheld the premise of her article (titled ?Covert Operations?) by conceding that they have been Koch grantees. None of them found any factual errors in her 10,000 words?.
By Frank Price N.Y.T.
Beck claims civil right support? These funding?s come from an elitist group that goes back to 1934 and from that time to the present have exploitive agendas for the demise of civil liberties. ??
Miller sits well with the doctrines of these elitist. S.S. and Medicare destroyed. Again no solutions. What are going to do with all the bodies of our elderly, sick, lame and dying that now reside in the gutters of our Nation . No solution once again. Only destroy, destroy? Any one for a spot of TEA??

[Mortar_29]

Silly.

[rightbehind]

I say we get rid of the state governments. I'm tired of the politicians and their double dipping family members retirements. So long as the states can charge property taxes we will never own our homes. That's communism. They already get enough in state payroll and sales tax.

[Mortar_29]

No, we get rid of the Federal government.

[abbe91]

"That means the federal government becoming less involved in basically every item of our lives,"

And let me guess, he must believe, just like Palin, that the city of New York should be the sole judge for matters like an Islamic cultural center in Manhattan ?

[RobAla]

"I don't think anybody can [claim] - sitting at $13.3 trillion in absolute debt, by some estimates $130 trillion in future unfunded obligations - that we are in any way in a good financial state," Miller said.

This is absolutely a true statement. Regarding Medicare and Social Security: We have members of both parties who have horribly mismanaged both programs to the point that they are going bankrupt.

We have to get rid of incompetent and corrupt members of the House and Senate who are responsible for this, and responsible for this record breaking $1.47 trillion deficit for this year. These people do not deserve the privilege of leading this nation. We have to reduce the federal government to a manageable size. Stop the insanity that is running amok in Washington!

[rightbehind]

That's easy. Throw republicans out of office.

[MiHi666]

""I would suggest to you that if one thinks that the Constitution is extreme, then you would also think that the founders are extreme," Miller said. "We just simply want to get back to basics, restore essentially the constitutional foundation of our country."

So, I guess that means Miller also wants to abolish the 13th Amendment and bring back slavery, just like it was in the days of the Founding Fathers.

And no votes for women either. In fact, let's just tear up all of our highways and use donkey carts on muddy roads and bring back smallpox while we're at it too. That outta please Miller no end.

[larrryshrine]

As a liberal, I will say these two things about Mr. Miller's positions: I absolutely disagree with him to a great degree. And I appreciate the fact that he articulates his positions very well. We need dialogue a lot more than we need rants.

[MiHi666]

And evil idea delivered rationally only makes it more evil.

[1bdby]

S. Palin & J. Miller are out to destroy Social Security and Medicare. All of these little old men and women in these nursing homes are going to be up a creek if Miller & Palin get their way, let alone regular retired seniors. Whose going to pay for their upkeep? You can't Privatize S.S. and continue to fund S.S. at the same time. Palin, Beck and the tea parters have an unrealistic view of S.S. They don't understand how important S.S. is to these Nursing homes. If S.S.is phased out these nursing homes will have to shut down because of a lack of funding.
Then S. Palin really will be killing off the old people.

[doylescott09]

Politicians on both sides have been looting those benefit programs for some time. dropping names for one side of the problem makes your opinions less valid. Can anyone of you can sit down and watch a few hours of clips on Nancy Pelosi and with a straight face tell me she is more sane and less evil than sarah palin or glen beck? I hate glen beck and sarah palin. most of the sheep in this country are happy believing one side is right purely because the other is wrong. You are why we wont have real change. Solve every social issue through government FORCE! HOW PROGRESSIVE!!! that has only failed every other time it has been attempted throughout history. but this times different. right?

[Stainless-joe]

Barber reminds me so much of BOSS HOG

[Vernique2]

what about ending the wars in which we are engaged and leave social security alone. It is estimated that 40% to 50 % of the federal budget is going directly or indirectly to the military/industrial complex.

[doylescott09]

any evidence of that claim? we spend alot more on entitlement programs than our military. Which by itself should prove to all here these programs are amazingly expensive if they can trump the scary amount of money we dump into occupying the world. End military and entitlement spending and the citizens of this country could actually earn enough to take care of themselves.