While the gamesmanship on display in Washington over funding the government does not leave much room for statesmanship as we approach another depressing debt ceiling debate, common ground does exist on the generational issue of our catastrophic public debt. And we should do everything possible to encourage Congress to go find it.
Before his own programs and initiatives were jeopardized by proposed budget cuts, even President Obama struck a magnanimous tone when speaking about the debt crisis as a Senator in 2006. “Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren,” he said. “America has a debt and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America’s debt limit.”
The point is not that President Obama is a hypocrite, everyone in Washington could be cast as a hypocrite if we held them to everything they said seven years ago. The same is probably true of all us, if we are honest. The point is, despite his actions in the White House, we know that President Obama has seen the light in the past. He has already taken the most critical step toward ending an addiction, admitting there is a problem.
The addiction for federal legislators in both parties is using the credit of young Americans to avoid difficult choices year after year. The debt incurred on behalf of America’s youth allows Washington to continue with patchwork solutions, but little, if any, reform. When President Obama visited Chattanooga in late July he went so far as to brag about the deficit shrinking at record pace. Of course, that claim is only possible because it got so out of control in the first place.
If Democrats and Republicans are genuine in saying they both fear for their children and grandchildren’s future in a debt-ridden nation, seeking out common ground on how to reduce a $4 trillion federal budget should be particularly appropriate at this opportune time to address reforms. Despite the habit of referring to every election as “the most important election of our lifetime” it does not appear that next year’s mid-term elections will even change the makeup of Congress, let alone go down in history as the most important. Republicans will likely retain the House, Democrats appear confident they will hold a slim majority in the Senate and the President will be in office for three more years.