Finally, we have resolution in Congress over the debt ceiling fiasco, that feels likes its been going on for years and years. Now that its over, I have to wonder was it a good thing or a bad thing to allow the government increased access to the national credit card?... In the short run this was definitely a good thing. Defaulting on our debts during this tender period of anemic economic recovery, would most certainly have produced horrifying results, which I believe few reasonable people would have wanted to witness. There is no doubt that the United States government has a duty to meet all its obligations as they come due, especially given that they’ve all been incurred on behalf of the American people.
However, over the long run the debate does become a little more grey. In essence, is it a good idea to allow the government to continue relying so heavily on credit cards to pay its bills. The answer is yes, however a change in behavior is necessary over the long run. The United States is a country of vast resources and means, it can afford to maintain an over-sized credit card balance, over an extended period of time. However, I view this debate more as a question of fairness. I don’t believe its fair for a generation to be spending resources that will not be available to the generations that follow them, or even worse, become a burden for them. It should be the responsibility of each of us to leave a better tomorrow for those who follow. Where I disagree with some people in power is that we live in a society that has a large population of wealthy people, and I believe its absolutely unfair to not be asking them to contribute in accordance to their means. Over the long run, societies are fairly judged by how they treat the weakest amongst them, and in this debt ceiling package, there are vast cuts to social programs that disproportionately benefit the poorest amongst us, while neglecting to collect any revenues from the wealthiest amongst us.
There is little doubt that as long as the nation fails to collect as much as it spends, the credit card balance will continue to sky rocket. However, this unending focus on spending cuts takes away from the real solutions to the nation’s fiscal issues, which lie in collecting more money from those amongst us who have been the biggest beneficiaries of this society.
