It is Time to Change the Story
Our national debt, measured in stacked dollar bills, would reach over 2.17 million miles into space.
The story never changes. It goes something like this:
Once upon a time a group of elected officials decided that spending more money than they had was a good idea. The group needed money for armies and roads and organizations and post offices and printing presses and mints and food and social funding plans and a plethora of other services necessary to what they thought was the efficient operation of the great nation they were elected to represent.
One day, one of the elected officials realized that by asking for and appropriating money to his specific district for new bridges and other infrastructure, he would be able to campaign on the success he had bringing money “back home.” Another decided that some major businesses in her district would benefit from a cooperative public works program, so she asked for money specifically for her district.
And so it went with nearly all the elected officials seeking to spend more and more, until these same individuals finally realized the nation they represented had no more money or ability to borrow.
The decided to “save the nation” by increasing the amount they could borrow, increasing the taxes they collected, and then telling everyone they have set by law a maximum amount they can borrow, calling it, let’s say, a “debt ceiling,” so the nation will still be safe and secure, with nothing more to fear.
Of course, as they again reached the maximum amount they could borrow, they collectively learned that the debt ceiling was just an impediment to their ability to spend more and more money, so they passed a bill increasing that debt ceiling, which the president signed. Again and again they did the same during much of the 20th Century and into the 21st Century.
(In case you did not realize it, we are talking about our beloved United States of America.)
As the citizens of our nation grew weary of being asked to fund more and more of this out-of-control government spending and increasing the debt ceiling every few years, the representatives needed to create more of an urgency and necessity for such increases. They decided to start calling the “need” an “emergency,” so as to scare the citizens into a fear that they would lose their retirements, their health care, and their public services.
The political parties would then argue back and forth about the need to control spending, to increase revenue, and to pay the nation’s obligations without default. They would hold press conferences so the media would become complicit in conveying their urgent message.
The officials would even, on a few occasions “shut the government down” to show just how dire the circumstances had become. They would debate and create concern of national destruction until at the last minute, just before defaulting on “all” the nation’s financial obligations, everyone would miraculously find a solution and increase the debt ceiling, forgetting about any fiscal responsibility, all for the sake of the nation.
On and on, the same insanity continued until our nation today finds itself reaching yet again the latest debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion, with demands to increase it once again, for the welfare and benefit of its citizens.
Yes, this is where we stand today. With nearly $32 trillion in debt, our government wants to spend more. It does not seek to curb spending, to hold spending even where it stands, but to increase this ceiling so it can spend more.
Do you know how much money that is? A stack of 1 trillion dollar bills would reach 67,866 miles, a bit over a quarter of the way to the moon.
Our national debt, measured in stacked dollar bills, would reach over 2.17 million miles into space.
It is always the same. Our so-called representatives in Washington, D.C. fail over and over to rein in their spending and then seek to scare us to death when they want to raise the national debt limit so they can spend more money. They constantly blame each other, and together, frankly, act as though it is our fault because they are all just spending for the general welfare of the nation’s citizens.
Is this really what we as citizens of the United States of America deserve? Is it what we want? If not, why do we allow these elected officials to continue spending money we do not have.
President Biden and the Democrats are demanding a “clean” bill increasing the debt limit, meaning they want authority to spend more money, with no conditions limiting their ability to spend up to the next debt ceiling.
Oh, the arrogancy.
The Republicans in the House have already passed a bill that would increase the debt ceiling, but also would place limited restraints on spending. They knew this bill would go nowhere in the Senate so it would be dead on arrival, creating no real solution. You can read about the bill here.
Oh, the arrogancy.
To the credit of the House Republicans, they have been trying to come to an agreement with the White House since January. Biden’s White House has failed to act or even meet until recently.
President Biden now proposes what he calls cuts to the deficit, but really is just asking for tax increases.
And, yet again, the president is trying to scare everyone about a default, but as he does, tries to sound like the voice of reason, when in reality, he is just part of the problem, and has so far refused to budge. The same old, repetitive story.
Democrats are also suggesting that President Biden bypass Congress altogether and use the 14th Amendment to increase the debt limit on his own. While this is a subject for an entirely different article, such action would be a disaster and a true violation of the constitutional principles governing our nation.
Congress is the branch of government responsible for revenue collection and spending, as set forth in Article I of the United States Constitution. Congress has continually failed to do its job and allows itself to be held hostage by a president who wants only to spend more money.
It is high time the House and the Senate rise up and do their jobs. They must stop relying on a president, whether Democrat or Republican, to tell them what to do and what to spend.
If this story continues as it always has, nothing but the national debt will change until one day our nation will no longer be able to pay its debts, regardless the level of the debt ceiling.
THIS IS A CALL FOR ALL OUR REPRESENTATIVES TO SIT DOWN TODAY AND DISCUSS HOW TO APPROACH AND RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM!
TODAY!
