All of us are generally aware of our personal financial situation, whether it is comfortable or uncomfortable.
And whether we are aware of that situation or not, sooner or later, financial facts confront us all. Will we support ourselves and our families, pay our way, or fall into painful debt? We can't escape those questions for long.
But many of the 100 United States senators and 435 U.S. representatives who are our voice in Congress refuse to deal with ugly financial facts at the national level.
Why? They do not want to require "us," the voters, to face troublesome reality. That might cause us not to re-elect them.
So now we have a $14.3 trillion national debt and little agreement on how to pay it down.
Since we elect the members of Congress, and since we have to pay taxes, why don't we insist that all members of Congress face the taxing and spending facts that affect us?
A bipartisan group of senators (dubbed the "Gang of Six") tried to work out a deficit-reduction agreement in recent months. It was seen as one of the few efforts that might have a chance to become law. But it apparently has failed, in part because the "gang" felt higher taxes were part of the "solution" but in part because financial reality is simply unpleasant.
So the problem remains, and grows.
Our debt is rising. The hundreds of billions of dollars we owe in annual interest on the debt is rising. We eventually will have to pay, both in terms of dollars and a weakened economy.
There is only one solution: Cut the outrageous government spending that got us into this mess.
Congress should do that sooner rather than later.