the best ways to grow the economy -- and enhance our national security -- is domestic energy production. The American Petroleum Institute says that, with the right government policies, we could increase U.S. oil and natural gas production 76 percent by 2030, generate more than 1.4 million new jobs and produce $800 billion in additional tax revenue. Overextended nation Another part of the solution is to stop spending more than we take in. According to The Wall Street Journal, the federal government borrowed 36 percent of what it spent last year. Imagine a family with a $40,000 annual income spending $54,400 a year -- year after year -- blithely letting the credit card debt pile up. Obviously, that would be irresponsible and irrational. But that's precisely what we're doing as a nation. So, part of the solution must be to cut our spending and start reducing our debt. Because of that reckless spending, America's credit rating was downgraded in 2011 for the first time in history. Ratings firms are warning that it could drop again, depending on what Congress and the president do about the "fiscal cliff." The fiscal cliff is the popular shorthand term for the crisis we will face when the terms of the Budget Control Act of 2011 go into effect. On Dec. 31, 2012, last year's temporary payroll tax cuts will end, resulting in a 2 percent tax increase for workers. Certain business tax incentives will end, income taxes will rise because of changes in the