It seems like almost
every other year, Americans feel anxiety and then relief when Congress gets
into a budget/debt ceiling standoff. And generally speaking, Congress merely postpones
the problem, known in Washington parlance as “kicking the can down the road.” Why
should we have confidence that lawmakers will resolve the mess next time? Or
any time? The parties are too divided.
This all reminds us
of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s 1854 poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” about
another doomed enterprise:
Someone had
blundered: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do
and die.
It’s Everyone’s Problem
Take pity on the
can. It’s been kicked so far down the road, it could circle the globe a dozen
times. It’s been battered more than last year’s New York Jets starting lineup.
It’s been kicked harder than placekicker Adam Vinatieri does the pigskin.
And still, it
persists.
But what happens
when they can’t kick it anymore?
The Kicked Can
The kicked can is
America’s future. It is the hopes and dreams of entrepreneurs whose ideas today
could become tomorrow’s Apple or Microsoft or your favorite publicly traded company. It is personal freedom that comes with economic
freedom. It is our children’s legacy.
The can is now over
$28 trillion in debt (more than $243,000 per taxpayer and over $91,000
per citizen). And it’s only getting worse. As interest rates rise, so will
payments on the debt.
And yet spending is
also increasing at an unprecedented rate. In 1980, federal debt equaled about 35%
of gross domestic product. As recently as 2000, it was at about 57% of GDP. It
now exceeds 123% of GDP.
Unless the
government takes action soon, America’s credit rating will be at risk,
Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will go broke, and the U.S. will owe
trillions of dollars to foreign countries. But why take action now when you can
kick the can once again?
This year, we will
elect new members of Congress. In about two years, we’ll have another
presidential election. The debt load will be their problem. They will find out
how good they are at kicking the can. Odds are they will keep kicking the can.
They can’t do it
forever, though.
Make sure you plan
accordingly.
