Congress is preparing a $630 billion-plus omnibus spending bill that would send the Pentagon budget to a record high and hand over billions to U.S. automakers and victims of hurricanes and floods. And that does not include the $700 billion mortgage bailout proposed by the Treasury.

The spending package includes $488 billion for the Pentagon, $40 billion for Homeland Security Department programs and $73 billion for veterans programs and military base construction projects.

Just where does all this money come from? One would suspect tax revenues, but the reality is, there just isn't enough revenue to pay for all of this. So the U.S. borrows money from foreign countries like China and Japan, the issuing of government bonds, and private lenders that can't seem to keep themselves afloat without the government or Warren Buffet. 

The fact is that Congress is spending money faster than John Edwards in a hair salon. But the money just isn't there to spend, so Uncle Sam racks up a mountain of IOU's to lenders.

In governing, just as in life, one can't simply place everything on the credit card and avoid responsibility for paying the bill. With the national debt now almost $9.8 trillion, Congress, which holds the purse strings of the country, has zero chance of eliminating the spiraling debt without slashing federal spending or raising taxes. One way or another, we're all giving back our $600 stimulus checks - a program that cost $168 billion we didn't have to give away.

As corporations continue to be pounded by a fledgling economy, tax revenues are shrinking even more. That means there is less to spend on federal programs, pork projects, veterans, health care, and two ongoing wars. These are drastic times, and drastic times call for drastic measures - not taking out a second credit card and charging another fortune.

Congress is in full-blown panic mode but they will only make our problems worse and the value of our money decrease if short-term, reactionary thinking continues to dominate the government. What is needed is a long-term plan of action; a plan to take advantage of this momentous occasion that comes so rarely and do something for the benefit of the country in the long-term, instead of the benefit of special interest groups and Wall Street in the short-term.

It's time to operate the country like a business to get control of spending and to steer the ship in the right direction once again.

Here is what I propose:

Step 1: Cut Spending

That means spending as little as possible on the federal programs up and running. Trim the budget, place a moratorium on all pork projects and last minute amendments to bills, lower federal spending levels to their absolutely bare minimum budgets. Eliminate all salary increases for the next year, cut major R&D defense projects that are more experimental than essential, and eliminate redundant federal programs.

Step 2: Collect Money

Sell all the old technologies we don't use for our military or transportation sectors to responsible buyers. Collect debts from foreign countries, oil and gas leasing royalties, and corporate income taxes due. Leverage the resources inside the Minerals Management Agency and sell as many non-polluting commodities as we can afford to sell to foreign countries.

Step 3: Cut Corporate taxes while raising taxes on unwanted services and capital gains

America has the second highest corporate taxation rate in the world. To attract new business from outside the U.S. and encourage the expansion of the economy, we need to cut the corporate tax rates significantly. That will open up new, small and large businesses, which will in turn create jobs for people who pay taxes to pay for government programs and the military. This economy needs a long-term boost, not a short-term bailout. 

We also need to cut the payroll tax. This is a ridiculous tax. Why should a business have to pay a tax to provide an essential economic service in employing a person? Don't we want people employed? If so, we need not tax such a beneficial service.

Taxing payrolls is analogous to taxing charities for providing relief to hurricane victims. Eliminating this tax will free up cash for businesses so they can invest in expansion and new ventures, while also providing another incentive for foreign companies to relocate to the U.S., provide new jobs, and support tax revenues.

So how will we pay for these cuts in the short-term? Two ways, first by raising the short-term and long-term capital gains tax rates for individuals making over $500,000 a year in capital gains. This essentially evens the amount of taxes paid by these individuals in comparison to what a person would pay in taxes in ordinary income.

Second, higher taxes should be levied upon pollution, be it in the form of garbage, air pollution, water pollution, or whatever. Companies should be OK with this new tax, knowing that their corporate income and payroll tax rates have substantially dropped. And by taxing pollution or the ills in society, we're giving business the incentive to clean up their act to make more money. 

Step 4: Invest Money in Marketing

Using the savings and cash from the first two steps, we should invest in attracting tourists and foreign companies. The country should actively market itself as a premier tourist destination that is cheaper than ever before. That will bring foreign dollars to the U.S., increase business for American companies, and increase tax revenues that will continue funding federal programs and chipping down the national debt.

Second, we market heavily to foreign companies, showcasing the nation's new, more competitive corporate tax landscape. This will enhance the relocation of business to America and decrease incentives for outsourcing to American companies. The two translate to more jobs and more tax revenue from taxpaying employees and a greater number of more successful companies paying corporate taxes.  

Step 5: No more oil

We get off of oil. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts. We get off oil with the concession that U.S. oil companies can expand drilling for oil domestically. Only instead of selling oil here, they must sell the oil abroad and pay higher tax rates for those sales. Otherwise, the federal government will simply allow foreign companies to enter the U.S. and drill and export their own oil for a premium price.

The new oil strategy keeps the oil companies content, as they will still have oil to sell and a means of funding new developments in alternative energy sources for evolving markets like the U.S. It also creates a greater revenue stream for the U.S. and decreases revenues for traditionally oil-exporting companies like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

As more oil floods the market and the price of oil drops, developing countries like China, India, and Brazil will be better equipped to handle the energy demands of their economies. The continued economic boom will help Americans investing and doing business in those countries, which will, as it had in the past seven years, benefit the American economy.

The remaining problem is just how to get off of oil? The problem requires a solution that takes advantage of existing infrastructure, creating change without needing all new equipment. Sorry, T.Boone, but natural gas is not the right solution...but it will come in handy. Relying on natural gas simply makes the nation dependent on another non-renewable, finite polluting energy source. The answer is in fuel cells run by liquid hydrogen.

Many in the energy and automobile fields have seen the potential for hydrogen-run fuel cells for years. But the technology requires a substantial investment of money to get it to the next level. Imagine if just 20 percent ($140 billion) of the money Congress is about to spend to bailout the mortgage industry was invested in the research, development, and implementation of a hydrogen economy?

To put things in perspective, the greatest fuel cell development commitment levels came in 2003 from President Bush, who pledged $1.2 billion to develop fuel cells and infrastructure. Compare that to the current $630 billion Omnibus bill and the $700 billion bailout plan and it seems more like a joke than an actual policy move.

With a substantial investment, Congress can switch to a hydrogen and fuel cell economy quickly. Natural gas and coal can be used to create the hydrogen from water in the short term. Over the long term, Congress should use incentives to encourage energy companies to create hydrogen from wind, solar, wave, and geothermal energy sources.

Developing our hydrogen fuel cell economy does more than eliminate our need for oil. It also liberates our economy from being hijacked by high oil prices in the future, prevents our country from having to handle oil exporting countries we don't otherwise support so delicately, aids in cleaning our air, and provides another technology to export. And that means more jobs for Americans. 

If Congress and the President are willing to fund a $3 trillion dollar war in Iraq or a $700 billion bailout, why aren't they willing to fund a sustainable, economically-viable future?  After all, an investment in a hydrogen fuel cell economy of the same magnitude could not only prevent the need for costly future wars over oil, it would also provide America with an incredible source of revenue and political capital for dealing with countries like China that will soon be more powerful than us economically otherwise. The U.S. needs a new bargaining chip to compete in this new millennium. Oil has proven itself a very powerful tool for negotiations in the past and will continue to be in the future.

We're living in historic times but our chance to think and act strategically will disappear in a flash. Before we wipe up the Wall Street mess or continue throwing money at bloated federal agency budgets and programs, Americans need to step up and tell their leaders that borrowing from the future to pay for the present is not the right direction for the country. Americans deserve better, and with just a little foresight and planning, this month could be turning point in our history instead of the beginning of the end for the modern day Roman empire.

Andrew Einhorn is a writer, business owner, and environmental consultant for federal and state governments