Some Common Sense: When Politicians and Their Experts Can't Agree

No New Debt = Armageddon, For Reals?

I doubt it, but it does raise this question - Who looks like they have more power over our nation's financial health in this situation, Credit Ratings Agencies like Moody's or our Federal Government?

You know, we're not the only ones in the world with debt problems right now, Greece, Ireland, Spain and others are in quite the mess too.  Why can't they just increase their debt ceilings?  Oh, they can't print money that also happens to be the current world reserve currency.  The only reason raising our debt ceiling is an option is because international trade operates on the U.S. dollar.  This means two things for us - raise the debt ceiling because we're lucky it's even an option AND come up with a long-term plan to stimulate the American economy.


When Politicians and Their Experts Fail

While politicians are busy trying to score political points, citing their favorite academic experts, there's a very real approach to the problem grounded in common sense that I believe most Americans see. 

• We have an immediate problem with our Credit Rating Agency Overlords, backed by ominous and cold factual statements by the Chairman of the Fed.
• Defaulting on loans is bad.  You wouldn't want to default on your loans.
• To deal with the immediate problem, we must increase the debt ceiling.
• We have a huge debt problem.
• Debt spending for a long time is bad. If you've ever been in debt trouble, you've felt the stress.
• To deal with the long-term problem, we must come up with a plan to reduce spending and raise revenue (increase taxes).  When we deal with personal finances, our plan would probably be along the lines of be thrifty and work a second job. 

The concept is simple, but the execution becomes complex because someone loses out on government money whenever spending is cut or reduced. Politicians then potentially lose their vote.


This is Just a Symptom of  Much Bigger Problem - the U.S. Economy

A larger and connected issue is creating jobs and a healthy economy.  You cannot ask, however that the country returns to the irresponsible practices of debt spending when the "investments" are not good.  Yes, there are some debts that are good to have for a time, such as when most people send their kids to college, therefore almost guaranteeing them a higher pay wage.  Government should also have the ability to take on good debt, such as building necessary and smart infrastructure.  A Constitutional amendment for a perpetually balanced budget is a bad idea.

But at the same time we  must acknowledge that a lot of debts are unnecessary and wasteful.

The new U.S. economy that emerges from this mess must be better than the one that came before.  Hoping that consumer confidence raises and the population goes back to spending more than they make is a terrible solution for our problem.  It is the short-sighted vision of corporations and not in the best interest of the people of the United States.  The way forward might have less toys, but it will be less stressful and maybe, just maybe, people will have time to engage in more than just collecting stuff.  Take back your government, people, it's lost without you.