National Debt

There is complete dishonesty in our national discussion of debt and the 'debt ceiling'

American society has many problems. Perhaps one of the largest is our refusal to admit that problems exist. We have this uncanny habit of kicking the can down the road, hoping the problem will fix itself. Of course, such a so-called solution never works. All it does is make the future pain worse.  However, actual fixing of the problem requires present pain, a lot of it, and politicians are self-interested rascals. They know full well that if they do something that causes their constituents discomfort, they will lose their next election. So, they do nothing. Rush was onto this scam a long time ago.

“You know, this is a problem that is facing many in this country. We have to—there’s too much emotion out there, too much rage, and they’re too—too many obstacles standing in the way of people being honest. You know, one of the things you are going to have to understand, there are no cuts. Please, if this matters to you, there are no cuts. The federal government is not cutting anything. If—what Democrats say are one of two things, either reductions in the projected rate of growth or turning a federal program over to a state or local community. But they’re not cutting money from it.  And that’s – the libs don’t even like that. The libs—the money is secondary, as long as the government maintains control of everything.”

Several key points need to be drawn from Rush’s statement. The first is the complete lack of honesty in our political discourse. As an example, take the recent debate over raising the debt ceiling. The Democrats want it raised. Republicans do not want it raised without spending cuts. Now obviously, it is not ideal for the American government to default on its debt, which would be the outcome if the debt ceiling is reached and the government can no longer borrow money to pay expenses. The economy would take a hit, the international value of the dollar would shrink, and foreign nations might no longer buy US bonds. However, the negative impacts of a default can be overcome with time. It would be very painful and many employees would probably not be paid, or lose their jobs, but it could be overcome. The pain would probably take a generation or two to ease and is thus something that no politician wants on his record.