Like many of you, on Monday, I watched in horror and then anger as the Boston Marathon explosions filled the TV screen. Horror because of the unthinkable carnage aimed at peaceful American families celebrating a fun-filled event on a beautiful spring afternoon in historic downtown Boston. Anger because of our apparent helplessness in stopping such unimaginable gore inflicted upon our fellow Americans on our soil.

More than ever, we have seen up close that the world can be a dangerous place – everywhere. In a free and open society, like here in America, we must be ever-so- vigilant to protect ourselves from terrorists who would do us harm. To do so, we must be able to pay, literally, for the defense of our freedom and liberty on our homeland, and also around the world where enemies might stage attacks against us.

It’s important that we all pull together as one America during these unsettling times. Each of us can help by being alert in our neighborhoods and communities. Our elected officials have the additional responsibility of setting the fiscal cornerstones of a strong economy and our national defense.

America’s economic power enables the protection of our people, property and way of life. Our collective future depends on the availability of jobs for our citizens. Those jobs generate the taxes that fund our common defense. It is imperative that our economy be on a sound financial footing so businesses have the confidence to invest, expand, and create jobs – freedom’s golden goose.

Let’s encourage our public officials in Washington to have the courage to fix America’s serious fiscal problems so that more jobs are produced for our workers. Three straightforward steps will help achieve this:

First, stop government overspending. There are many places where taxpayer dollars can be saved. For example, cutting the federal travel budget by 50 percent will save $7.5 billion every year. Eliminating 68 duplicative education programs saves $1.3 billion per year. Selling unused federal properties would bring in $15 billion.

The graph at right shows that Washington has spent, on average, $1 trillion more than collected from us in taxes during each of the past five years. Congress makes up the difference by either borrowing the money or, worse, by printing it. If government spent only what it takes in, the national debt would stop growing, and business owners would have more confidence to invest in America and create badly-needed jobs, and we’d be safer.

 Second, start paying off the national debt. Today, the interest payments on the $17 trillion debt are roughly $225 billion per year, more than we spend on veterans’ benefits. When interest rates rise to their historic normal levels, those interest payments are projected to soar to approximately $800 billion per year, more than we spend to defend our country. Implementing a credible plan to begin paying down this smothering debt would be healthy for our economy and attract businesses investment and more jobs for Americans, and we’d be safer.

Third, reform the unsustainable entitlements. 43 percent of every federal tax dollar is spent on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security benefits. These expanding programs are the primary cause of the annual budget deficits and growing national debt. Social Security, for instance, provides retirement benefits for 46 million senior citizens. It is paying out more in pension checks than is being collected in payroll taxes to fund those benefits. Over the next 10 years, the number of Social Security beneficiaries is projected to increase by 40 percent! America’s fiscal crisis cannot be solved without reforming these three huge entitlement programs. Saving Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security would be viewed favorably by the business community, encouraging them to invest in their companies and generate more jobs, and we’d be safer.

In sending our thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families of the horrific Boston bombings, let’s all renew our commitment to defend ourselves, our homeland and our pursuit of happiness. Doing so should not be a political exercise.

We have given our elected officials the power to build a business-friendly climate that leads to more jobs for Americans. Putting our nation’s fiscal house in order would be a big step toward a stronger economy and a more secure future for America.

 Bruce Poliquin is the former Maine State Treasurer and a 2012 Republican primary candidate for the United States Senate. He has 35 years of experience owning and managing businesses. Bruce is a proud third-generation Franco-American Mainer and Harvard University graduate. Visit BrucePoliquin.net for his most recent commentary and analysis on media outlets throughout the State about the important issues facing Maine families and their jobs.  Follow Bruce on Facebook  at www.facebook.com/BrucePoliquin and on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/Brucepoliquin.