by JACK LINDN
The country’s national debt is much in the news. In general, the pundits say the President has caused our national debt to increase faster than any president. That sentence is generally followed by, “The problem is not too few taxes, but too much spending.”
Another solution from these guys is that we need to run government the way we have run our households. Really? Have any of the people really looked at their own financial habits?
How many of us paid cash for our house? Wasn’t one of the reasons for our current financial mess the borrowing of too much money to buy a home that we couldn’t really afford? The fact remains that most people living in houses do not own their homes outright. They and some bank own the house.
Also, are those cars in the garage or on the street paid for? If they are, did you pay for them when you bought them or did you borrow money to be able to drive them home? Are you really living without debt?
How about those credit cards – the ones that charge you 20-24 percent interest on the balance? Are you using them only for what you immediately need? Those clothes that the children will be wearing when they return to school – are they all paid for or do you owe some department store money?
The people calling for the government to have a balanced budget because that is the way “we run our household” are either very rich, very poor or are not looking at how they run their households. Let’s face it, if we stopped borrowing, this economy would go into the depths of depression like we have never seen.
Americans have built their standard of living on credit. We wouldn’t have the luxuries or the standard of living we enjoy without it.
Even those small businesses that the Republicans say are being held back because of the President’s policies are faced with the scourge of credit. The truth is – small businesses can’t expand when they want because they can’t get loans. Think about the amount of money that is sitting idly by and not being loaned. It is almost impossibe to borrow money now at a reasonable rate.
Our federal government is structured in a way that it must rely on credit to function. It is also responding to the demands of the people. Unfortunately, Congress is also susceptible to the unrealistic demands placed on them by voters. How many types of military equipment are financed because the factory is in a congressman’s home district. Do we want to stop asking for federal aid when drought hits, a hurricane devastates the coast or wildfires burn homes?
Sure, we can cut spending but we will not cut borrowing. It has become the American Way. Watch TV and see how easy it is to run your life on credit.
