The political class in Washington, D.C., is paralyzed by fear, fear of the public’s wrath if they dare make the deep, necessary cuts to federal spending. Trillions must be slashed from the budget, and there’s no sugarcoating it, these cuts will hurt. Jobs will be lost, programs will vanish, and lives will be disrupted. It’s a bitter pill, but the alternative, a national collapse under the weight of unsustainable debt, is not an option.

Take the story of a woman my wife knows, a sweet, kind soul who poured her heart into a nonprofit. Her program was axed, funding gone, and now she’s jobless. She’s devastated, and it’s heartbreaking. But that’s the brutal reality when you trim what we can’t afford. I’ve been there myself, fired fourteen times in nearly fifty years as a radio broadcaster. Each time stung, and not one boss who swung the ax (save one) gave a damn about what came next for me. That one exception? He had no choice either, his company was bankrupt, sold for scraps. He fired everyone he could to save what little was left. Yet, within a month, I was back on the air, moving forward.

The private sector is ruthless like that, businesses fold, jobs disappear, and life goes on. During the Biden administration, countless companies shuttered, thousands lost work, and it barely made a ripple. Why, then, are government jobs treated as sacred? When taxpayer-funded programs face the chopping block, suddenly it’s a crisis. But the truth is, these jobs aren’t untouchable. They’re part of the same hard facts of life everyone else faces.

The debt crisis demands serious cuts, not to Social Security or Medicaid, which we must protect by rooting out waste and fraud, but to the bloated programs we can’t sustain. The path forward is clear, slash government spending, bring back manufacturing, and foster a small business environment where the economy can thrive. Those displaced can find their footing in the private sector, where resilience and opportunity still exist. It’s not heartless, it’s survival. The nation’s future depends on it.