Time for a government garage sale

The deal is done. The government did what only governments seem to find logical: attempt to get out of debt by borrowing more money, putting off actually dealing with the problem of out of control spending and ridiculously expanding government until another time.
In a previous blog, I posted about how I couldn't believe proven, logical methods of dealing with dealt - the way people have successfully dealt with the problem of debt for centuries - was so hard for modern government to understand.
In "The economics of history; or everything I know about the economy I learned while being in debt", I wrote:

So one side, the liberal side, says the answer is we have to just raise our debt limit so we can borrow more money. Or else we need to print more money.
Of course there is the option of earning more money - but let's face it, anyone of us knows that's the hardest way to go. It takes work. And there are only so many hours in a day and so many jobs to go around, and borrowing based on the idea that I'm going to get a better paying job somewhere in the near future is kind of how the housing market bubbled and burst.
Further compounding the issue is that government really doesn't earn money. ...

I'm not going to rehash the issue here, except to say I forgot one very obvious way government can actually make money without taxing or cutting spending.
Following my belief that the same principles apply for individuals as well as governments, let's back up a step. One way millions of Americans raise money in a hurry is have a garage sale. Take valuable assets and sell them.
Well, as my friend Gary Palmer of the Alabama Policy Institute points out (go to Alabamapolicy.org/viewpoints/article.php?id_art=472 ) the government has a very similar option, and it makes so much sense on so many levels.
 "Our nation," Palmer writes, "has abundant assets; we simply refuse to use them."
According to the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management, there are 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil from oil shale in the Green River Formation, located in western Colorado, Utah and Wyoming - about three times more than the proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. While the Green River Formation covers about 11 million acres of land, 80 percent of the recoverable oil can be found in a 1,224 square mile area of western Colorado.
Palmer goes on to say that "The federal government owns or manages 73 percent of the lands that contain significant oil shale deposits in the West and 80 percent of the recoverable oil in the Green River Formation. In addition, there are several billion barrels more offshore. In fact, only about 15 percent of the U.S. coastal waters have been opened to exploration. Including the known oil reserves in Alaska and other areas of the nation, the U.S. has oil reserves worth trillions of dollars."
That's just oil. It's estimated that the United States has an enough oil, natural gas, and coal reserves to last 249 years (Palmer says figures based on powering 65 million cars for 60 years; heat 60 million households for 160 years; and energy from recoverable coal for 249 years).
Now, I'm not suggesting we simply "rape the land." But protecting the environment at the expense of future generations is just as abusive.
Auctioning off select areas of federal land for energy generates income for the government; creates jobs that will put people to work; lessens U.S. dependence on foreign oil which will lower energy costs that make it easier for businesses to compete, products to be transported more cheaply that lowers basic costs of goods, and simply reduces the cost of living in the United States.
Palmer writes, "It is estimated that just allowing permits for offshore exploration and drilling to return to levels before the BP spill, including approval of backlogged permit requests, would generate 400,000 jobs and add $45 billion to GDP over the next two years."
I'm not a radical environmentalist, I admit. However, I do believe that God has ordained man to be stewards of the earth, responsible for the environment, and expected to treat all of creation - which was another victim of the fall of man - with respect and care. The Bible says God reveals himself through all creation. That is reason enough to protect that revelation of God.
But at the same time, the resources are there for a reason. And we're not talking about strip-mining or leveling mountains or polluting the oceans. I've been involved in the gas and oil business enough to see that energy companies are rightly held responsible for their impact on the environment.
Once again, it's common sense - the same approach you or I might take if we suddenly found our self facing out of control debt. Most of us don't walk away from debt. Most of us never consider simply defaulting. Most of us take a responsible approach that includes trying to generate more income while reducing expenses.
It hurts. Nobody likes it. It makes us unpopular at times,  particularly with our children who don't understand why they can't have the new stuff their friends have, or why the family can't go on vacations like everyone else, or why they suddenly have to give up activities they enjoy because they cost too much.
But good parents who try to be good stewards of their finances know that ultimately that discipline and sacrifice will make a better future for their children.
Common sense, right?