OPINION: Will elections fix the debt crisis?
The U.S. deficit is in national headlines once again.
We should get used to it. With a debt of more than $15 trillion, it’s not going anywhere soon. The fiscal irresponsibility of our government is likely to be our generation’s story and will have far reaching implications on public policy for years.
Economically, the deficit puts the U.S. dollar at risk of high inflation rates and threatens long-term economic growth.
Perhaps, no other issue has so clearly displayed the partisanship of Congress. The Republicans want to cut public programs and Democrats want tax hikes; both sides are not compromising their demands.
So how do you pay off $15 trillion? Tax increases do have a role. While I understand the negative economic ramifications of increasing taxes, I concede that $15 trillion is a staggering sum of money and it isn’t reasonable to expect that simply cutting programs will cover it.
In this debate, however, there seems to be a fundamental principle the Republicans understand that Democrats don’t. When a person finds himself in debt, it’s not because he doesn’t earn enough money. It’s because he is spending too much.
Governments are no different. The fundamental cause of U.S. debt is not that the government doesn’t bring in enough money, but that it has gotten too big and is trying to do far more than it should.
This is not a moral statement on what government should or should not be responsible for. I make no statements on whether or not a government is morally responsible to provide health care or unemployment benefits, economic stimulus, or even military defense. Those are moral questions. This, however, is a budgetary problem.
In my adult life, I haven’t mulled over the question of whether or not I should buy a new TV. It has always been outside of the budget, and therefore out of the question.
Understandably, not all government programs are like a new TV. Sometimes people need welfare assistance or access to medicine. The point, however, is you don’t solve a spending problem by raising more money to spend.
Unfortunately, our political system doesn’t work like that. The government buys things or invests in programs and the public rarely wants to see the price tag. For a citizen, it feels someone else is picking up the tab. For politicians, promising new benefits is a great way to win votes.
This brings us to the original problem of why we haven’t been able to solve the debt crisis yet: partisanship. Do all the Republicans really believe any tax hikes would be a moral crime? Do the Democrats believe we should continue to fund unsustainable programs? Certainly, there is some conviction, however, I do not believe either side is as polarized as they appear.
When it comes down to it, the debt crisis can’t be solved because of elections. The Republicans must refuse tax hikes and the Democrats must refuse funding cuts because politicians who campaign with these platforms loses votes. In short, exercising long-term fiscal responsibility will cost them their jobs.
While I side with the Republicans on this issue, I hope people of responsibility and integrity in both parties will step forward to solve this problem. People may protest and take their jobs away, but politicians should remember it is ultimately not the people who they serve.
According to John Adams, “The Magistrate is the servant not … of the people, but of his God.”
I don’t care if your God is religion, science or simple logic. A true politician should look beyond the immediate desires of himself and his constituency and act according to his conscience.