I was complaining about deficits at the national level long ago – much like many Americans and many of our leaders. It was something I inherited from a family and extended family that played by the rules and paid our bills, but it also came from my old boss, State Treasurer Grady L. Patterson who passed along his disdain of a huge national debt. He rightly believed for more than five decades that deficits made our country weaker, that we should pay our bills, and that if we didn’t a day of reckoning would come.
That reckoning is now upon us with the potential ruination of our economy if our leaders in Washington can’t come to a conclusion on the debt limit and how our nation will tax and spend.
There are no good outcomes if Washington doesn’t resolve the mess it has created – and the problems that come from this crisis won’t just impact Washington. If our national government can’t pay its bills, it is a certainty that inflation will immediately impact every household and small business in South Carolina – inflation will make buying our necessities more expensive, and it will keep businesses from expanding (adding jobs we desperately need).
This touches all of us.
I was one of those who worried as our deficits, which came under control under President Clinton and a Republican Congress, suddenly exploded after 2001. Our national debt almost doubled from $6 trillion in 2001 to over $11 trillion in 2008 while President Bush was in office. And, in the last two and a half years, during this Great Recession, we’ve now increased our deficit to more than $14.3 trillion.
It was during the collapse of our financial system in 2008 that people began to finally come out of their slumber and question the wisdom of deficit spending. The Tea Parties began to assemble for the common-sense goal of fighting for a government that operated on a balanced budget. The Tea Party demanded that the government pay its bills like everyone else. It was promising that such a movement with only one agenda could make a difference in our government.
Now, I wonder what happened.
On the brink of a compromise to move toward a balanced budget, the newly elected Tea Partiers are being blamed for killing negotiations. It was their single-mindedness to put our fiscal house in order that gave so many people hope that we might get the mess in Washington under control. Is it true these new leaders have exchanged their idealism to score political points? I am not smart enough to know.
I do know that I was unhappy that my Democrats were late to the game of finding ways to balance the budget. I felt that there were many opportunities over the last two years for the President to advance a plan (like the one his own commission published) and President Obama was sadly slow to realize the enormity of the forces around the debate.
Belatedly, the President did join in, though. President Obama has now put everything on the table, including every Democratic sacred cow like Social Security and Medicare. He came to the table ready to compromise surprising everyone. It surprised everyone so much that Republicans, including their Tea Party allies, who would get much of what they want from a budget deal, just walked away from the bargaining table.
Every person who has looked at our national deficit (that wasn’t paid by a special interest group) understands that balancing our budget requires reductions in spending and increases in revenue. We all know things can't remain as they were before the economy collapsed. But suddenly everyone (but the President) Democrats and Republicans alike seem shocked that they might have to give up some of their sacred cows to make this work.
When George Bush (41) and Bill Clinton adjusted the tax codes during a recession (mainly on our wealthiest citizens) it didn’t kill the growth of our national economy. In fact, those actions pulled us out of recession and laid the foundation for the most positive growth in our nation’s history – because they stabilized our federal budget. And they both paid a heavy political price: George Bush lost his re-election, and Bill Clinton lost both houses of congress.
We need that kind of courage in Washington now. Our economy is asking for action and stability in Washington now. The goal is, and should be what the Tea Party first went to Washington to do – to balance our budget. We all know that, to ensure our long-term ability to be a world superpower and ensure our safety and way of life for ourselves and generations to follow, this has to be done now.
We might all have to give a little, but sacrifice and humility were once virtues we admired. Can our leaders sacrifice just enough to keep us from ruinous inflation and come up with a budget deal? Or, will they just point fingers when it all comes crashing down, like they always do?
