Customer Reviews

National Suicide: How Washington Is Destroying the American Dream from A to Z

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
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A must read for all concerned about the future of America. This shocking warning illustrates a government on a mad spending orgy serving the interests of careerist politicians and their clients at the expense of our nation.Gross illustrates this jeremiad with a barrage of facts to back up his opinions. For example,there are 1399 federal funded programs for rural areas spread across 20 different federal agencies,none of which are coordinated to avoid duplication.
National Suicide is a basic source of information for anyone looking to challenge the destructive path that our self-serving political class is following.

"National Suicide" begins with a 50-page essay in the vein that this country has been on the road to ruin since the presidency of Harry Truman, follows with 44 essays on various specific problems, and ends with a note to a current president on "how to better govern America."

It seems that we need to reorganize the government from top to bottom, reduce federal expenditures by about one-third, cut taxes, eliminate the alternative minimum tax, get over the nonsense about taxing carbon emissions, recruit better teachers for U.S. schools, and reverse the influx of illegal immigrants, among other things. "There is no other course if we are to save America from national suicide."

As an inventory of national problems, this book represents a good effort. Many of the points may be familiar, but most readers will learn some things. In my own case, for example, I had never realized and/or reflected on (a) how the federal government came to own so much of the land in Western states, (b) the possible benefits of requiring future teachers to study anything but "education" in college, (c) how Connecticut cut local government overhead by abolishing all counties in the state, and (d) the downside of having so many states use caucuses (often with very limited participation) in their presidential primaries.

But I disagree with some of the author's suggestions, such as (1) imposing a retaliatory tax on Chinese imports that could spark a global trade war (it would make far more sense to help U.S. manufacturers by cutting the corporate tax rate and eliminating needless regulations), (2) having the federal government take over the U.S. school system, and (3) replacing the welfare programs he decries with cash grants on the assumption that this is how to eliminate poverty.

Additionally, the game plan for reform is superficial. No president could be expected to take the author's suggestions and run with them; they simply do not represent an actionable agenda. Furthermore, there would have to be buy-in from many people besides the president to get anything constructive done.

Awareness is a start, however, and this book may contribute in that respect. As stated in the introduction, it is dedicated to helping "the voters learn the truth about Washington" so they will "be able to think intelligently about a government that is robbing its citizens of their treasure, their personal confidence, and their self-respect."

As I understand it, the author came out of retirement to write this book - basically an update of "The Government Racket 2000: All New Washington Waste from A to Z" - because he felt the situation was continuing to deteriorate. Good for him!

I agree with the other reviews in that Martin Gross's book does a good job of touring us through many wastes and inefficiencies in our US Federal Government. I'd point out that education is, indeed, given short shrift, and that Gross has other books on the subject of education. My assumption, then, would be that he covers much of the missing memes in these other books.

We need to remember as we read this book, that it is an "A to Z" format book. Doubtlessly, Mr. Gross used a copious set of organized notes on government matters, gleaned from many years studying this area. I'd guess Mr. Gross then picked out the short areas for chapters that would fit gracefully and usefully into this A to Z format. I'm sure he worked to make the book applicable to our present time, but I also note as I read that he has included extensive info about excesses and inefficiencies that arose as far back as the 1950's and 1960s'. Of course this mess of a government was not made over night, so the info is quite appropriate. But again, I doubt Mr. Gross intends this to be the "encyclopedia" of this problem.

I especially like that Mr. Gross makes a set of suggestions at the end of the book. So often, and especially in broadcasting, journalism and even in the world of weblogs, we hear only the criticism of government and politicians, but not a soupcon of constructive suggestions for alternatives. Of course, often, the alternatives are difficult to implement given politics....

Once a coherent argument is made, that growing, and growing government DOES NOT solve our society's problems, we still need to solve the problem of HOW we are going to reduce the size and scope of government. What political efforts that is going to need MUST be discussed (hear this, Tea Party folk? ...buy and read this book...then reconvene!).

Those of us who would like our taxes actually USED FOR IMPORTANT WORK need to drive home that the politics of government reduction is NOT a politics of ignoring our poor, or our sick and our helpless citizens. Rather, it is the first step on the long road (I'd suggest traditional charity and religious charity in particular, are part of the answer) to actually helping those most in need.

I am also a bit sorry that Gross did not cover the wasteful arguments currently underway regarding "eliminating" the Federal Reserve System. My understanding is that a single currency, and the management of the gross quantity of the supply of money (it takes several forms) cannot exist without an issuing agency, and a managing agency...is that somehow not correct? Perhaps we simply have another rise of the "Gold Bug" phenomenon of years ago. Maybe this is more of a "digression" into the world of "conspiracy theories". I tend to think first of incompetence, and only will consider a conspiracy when I see small, cohesive, organized groups and high degrees of competence.

I would highly recommend this book to someone who wants to learn quickly about the 20th century's history of excessive government growth, and of the tales of hideous excesses and waste that currently exist in the vast US Government.

This book makes an excellent primer on problems taxpayers and government face going forward.

CLINTON BUDGET
GOOD: One thing I found particularly interesting is what Gross calls the $1 trillion "truth spread" of the Clinton budget. Clinton is often credited with leaving a $559 billion surplus--which perhaps would be better credited to the Republican Congress--when in fact, when accrued liabilities and internal borrowing etc. are added into the mix, the real budget reflected a DEFICIT of $484 billion. Clinton took office in 1993 when the debt was $4.4 trillion, and left in 2001 with $5.8 trillion in debt.

FEDERAL COMPENSATION ETC.
GOOD: I also liked the expose on government credit card abuse, redundant programs, and federal salaries and compensation. I especially enjoyed the latter's section on compensation adjustments to reflect local private sector wages--something the federal government swears "isn't a cost-of-living adjustment." Of course, it is by proxy, and it raises the question: why will they always revise compensation for bureaucrats UP to reflect local circumstances but never DOWN? If you're going to head in that direction, go ALL the way: make them pay the same premiums, the same deductibles, the same copays, give them the same benefits, etc. They only ever seem to want to scale pay UP.

REFERENCES
BAD: The book is chock-full of statistics, quotations, and anecdotes. Yet, in my edition of the book, there is not a SINGLE source. I love a book heavy on the numbers, but a References section is a MUST for any such book, particularly for one making some controversial claims. Provocative as it is, this book would fail even as a high school research paper.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE
BAD: Gross is obviously a protectionist, and he seems annoyed (p. 97) that this philosophy has been discredited. He complains that China engages in dumping, refuses to float its currency, and otherwise manipulates our markets. Whatever the truth is, it certainly doesn't help that he has no sources. To fight China without resorting to protectionism, he proposes an even more ludicrous solution: enforce a "currency equalization program" in which the value of our own currency is changed by fiat to combat theirs. If you're looking for sound views on international trade, look elsewhere--Gross suffers from antiforeign bias and generally has a mystical and suspicious view of international trade. I would recommend Thomas Sowell or Arnold Kling for realistic insight on this subject.

CREDITORS
BAD: I do not sympathize at all with Gross' outrage at the credit card companies. It may be true that the rates they charge are "usurious," and that they engage in practices no consumer would WANT to support. THAT'S EXACTLY WHY THEY *SHOULDN'T* SUPPORT THEM. He accuses the companies of "greed," but ignores the fact that it is he--or any other patron--who was too GREEDY to build wealth and accumulate possessions the linear way: BY SPENDING ONLY WHAT THEY COULD AFFORD. I understand the concepts of investment and leverage, but consumers should understand that by agreeing to be buried under a mountain of debt, they are placing themselves in a position of slavery to their creditors, and have no right to complain as long as the terms are the same as when they signed the loan documents. But you "need" to buy a house or borrow for that car or for your business? Fine--just know that you forfeit your right to complain about the terms you agreed to. Gross goes on to complain that grace periods are "only" 21-25 days, and goes on to explain how in many cases this only gives debtors 11-15 days to mail a check back out. He says he wants credit cards to overlook "a few days, here or there," then goes on to say he wants a minimum of 30 DAYS. Fine--just don't call that "a few days." Just as with the mortgage crisis and a growing number of other problems, Gross encourages people to believe that somebody else--anybody--is responsible for their late fees and their failures, generally--just not themselves.

SUMMARY
Otherwise, the whole premise of this book is about government waste, but in talking about "admirable" welfare programs and promoting spending on the projects HE likes, Gross turns himself into as much of a villain as he accuses others of being. Everybody wants to cut spending, until it affects THEIR programs. Gross needs to be consistent on waste to be believable.

The publisher has failed to use the tools that Amazon provides, so "Look Inside the Book" and especially the Table of Contents, are not available. Shame on the publisher. I would normally take away one star for this lack of due diligence.

This author and the books this author provides are serious investigative journalism and great reporting. Below are just five of his eleven previous books, all non-fiction, all blowing the whistle in detail.
The Government Racket 2000: All New Washington Waste from A to Z
Political Racket
Tax Racket
Medical Racket
The Conspiracy of Ignorance: The Failure of American Public Schools

Although the author certainly has a formula, I do not consider these formula books or light in any sense of the word. The author's introduction is a proper overview of all that follows, and the conclusion connects the dots.

I am not going to list the 44 alphabetical topics here, from Alasakan Oil to Zip Codes--the publisher really needs to do their duty to the reader and the author and get Inside the Book details posted.

I am hugely impressed by the details in this book, and its over all coherence. If the public ever wanted a czar for both structural and financial reform of the federal government which is, as Ron Paul, the author, and I and manz others agree, totally broken, this author is the man for the job.

Five other books on the context of all this fraud, waste, and abuse:
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It
Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny
The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track (Institutions of American Democracy)
Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders
Election 2008: Lipstick on the Pig (Substance of Governance; Legitimate Grievances; Candidates on the Issues; Balanced Budget 101; Call to Arms: Fund We Not Them; Annotated Bibliography)

I would love to see all of the author's books in a digital database that has been indexed and been augmented with a visualization tool.

If you want to get upset with ur government, then read this. Our polotitians could never hold down a job in the real world. So, why do we let them govern us?

I knew it was bad. But I didn't know how bad it really is.

Our government is beyond out of control. It is like an airplane that is on autopilot heading for a mountain. "National Suicide" is not just a catchy title; it is an exact statement of where we are in terms of out-of-control government waste, duplication, spending and borrowing.

Most people grumble about government spending and taxes without realizing how really bad it is. The reason we don't see it is because, as this book explains, we're borrowing from mostly foreign governments to cover up how much in debt we are. It's absolutely horrifying to find out that the current $1.4 trillion increase in the federal debt that it is only a drop in the ocean of the more than $54 trillion of unfunded liabilities for Social Security and Medicare.

According to "National Suicide," no one in Washington even cares about the 1,600+ programs all doing the same thing with massive duplication and an amazing level of redundancy. Politicians keep passing legislation without knowing or caring if the new program is doing something that is already being done. They never consider the cost, and when they do, they low-ball the cost purposely to make the program seem more palatable.

This book is a must-read for anyone concerned about keeping America's economy afloat. We can't keep going on like this, and author Martin Gross lays out exactly what must be done to get us out of this mess.

Some parts of the book are a little off the mark, in my opinion, but overall the facts he lays out are very difficult to argue with. The data is hard to come by, and Mr. Gross has done extensive research to back up the facts he presents in the book.

The Tea Party folks have a real point. Read this book, and you'll probably feel like joining them.

Once we lost the Scriptural moral values, contained in the Ten Commandments and set forth in the Constitution, by my heroes, our founding fathers, our country started to flounder. And now predictably, it has comes to this. We can not look to Robin Hood big government with their insane spending and socialist agenda to save us. "National Suicide" is a well written, in depth and easily understandable look at exactly what our government has degenerated into. It is a bipartisan look at the rampant corruption and ineffiiency in the federal government and what politicians are doing to line their own pockets, while fleecing the middle class. It is filled with startling statistics, to back up the author's contentions. For example, even though I knew Pork Barrel Spending (earmarks) were rampant, I didn't realize exactly how much they were costing us. If all that pork was eliminated, we could use that money to pay off our national debt. Yes, our country is bankrupt and committing "National Suicide." We need to repent and return to the sound moral principles this country was founded on. Hopefully, it isn't already to late.

Chapter 1: The Road to Oblivion: Gross discusses the increases in the National Debt during the Clinton, Bush and Obama years resulting in a $13.5 trillion debt in 2010, which does not take into account accrued liabilities. He states that the villain is politics which has "turned into a morally corrupt machine" (p. 7).

Gross provides an overview of 85 different welfare programs ... "pushing the nation toward first bankruptcy, then potential national suicide" (p. 13). His overview of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) is enlightening, as are his views on lobbyists and the current financial crisis, which was caused by the well-intentioned, but disastrous Consumer Reinvestment Act (CRA) and spurred on by both Clinton and Bush. He then discusses the Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs - as well as the opposition to government growth and generational debt by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

Subsequent Chapters include factual insights on: Alaskan Oil, AMT, Baby Citizens, Bilingual America, Bureaucracy, Cabinet Madness, China, Community Development Block Grants, Corruption, Credit Card Racket, Credit Cards - Federal employees, Duplication, Earmarks, Education, Eminent Domain, Farmer Subsidies, Foreign Aid, Government Foolishness, Governments - Governments - Governments, Housing Public, Improper Payments, Job Training, Katrina, Land Grab, Lobbyists, Low Balling, Medicare Fraud, Monetary Mayhem, Nonprofits, Oversight, Personal Exemption, Primaries - Presidential, Questionable & Unnecessary Agencies, Rural America, Small Business Administration, Social Security, Taxes, Travel - Government Employees, Unfunded Mandates, Vice President, Welfare, X-Presidents, Yankee Stadium, Zip Codes. [The chapter on Medicare Fraud was an especially good warning against expanding into Obama-care]

Final Chapter is called "Instructions for the President" and it includes specific recommendations to reduce excessive spending. As a person who always balances his own check book and believes in the limits imposed upon the Federal Government by the US Constitution, I think this book is one of the best I have read. Gross gets an A+ for researching fiscal facts from A to Z ... and he supports his views with fact rather than just opinion. Socialists and Progressives will hate this book because it exposes the numerous flaws of a State-Controlled economy.

If I were King for just a day, I'd direct every American citizen to read this book (I'd also require our politicians to read it twice, and then pass a quiz). 5-Stars

Dr B Leland Baker, author of
Tea Party Revival: The Conscience of a Conservative Reborn: The Tea Party Revolt Against Unconstrained Spending and Growth of the Federal Government

I try not to read books on government because they're mostly one sided. However, after a friend recommended this one it was a must read. Not only for me but for every working class American in this country. This book is a fine example of how our government has been screwing the American taxpayer for years and continues to! Both sides of the aisle. I also see how this government has let us Americans down and there is no oversight on how much money they spend without thought as to who is going to pay for their programs and projects for many years to come. Even the "Cap and trade" is written about. As the old saying goes "It's always fun spending other peoples money!".

Sure there are some things that you can argue about the authors thoughts but you have to admit, he has good insight and if anyone had any better ideas maybe they'd be president!