The National Debt Demands Serious People Doing Serious Things

Since becoming an adult (too many years ago to count), virtually all my professional career has been focused on electoral politics or public affairs connected to the intersection of public opinion, public policy, and political considerations.

Without apology, I proclaim that I am a Ronald Reagan Republican. However, it is not 1984 (darn it), and the divide between the parties has never been greater. Still unequivocally, my partisan loyalty remains fully intact. That is not what this column is about.

When Emotion Replaces Serious Debate

Throughout these years, I have witnessed a dramatic shift from serious people dealing with complicated matters where facts are what count the most to watching unserious people oversimplifying and distorting things to the point of absurdity. Emotions—not facts, logic, and reason—are the political currency of the day.

It is no wonder Americans are so frustrated with the government and its leaders. Both of these have spent years pretending that if only we did x, y, or z, instantly there would be improvement. Not shockingly, the American public is not pleased with the lack of actual results.

Anyone daring to suggest a particular matter is complicated and requires an approach that recognizes very few issues are black and white, much less a test of moral virtue, is soon met with disdain from activists on both sides. That individual is guilty of simultaneously abandoning the base on their side and of personifying evil by the other side for not adopting their views 100 percent.

The Problem With Black-and-White Politics

Are there debates where there really is no realistic common ground to be found? Sure, however, common sense argues that cannot be the case in every instance. Most maddening is the circular logic employed to defend and advance a given position. If you care about the health of poor children, then you must agree that we need to dedicate this exact many more federal tax dollars to Medicaid. If you do not agree to spend what is requested, by definition, you do not care about poor children. No chance there is fraud or those not entitled receiving assistance, much less other alternatives to increasing spending on Medicaid. Nope. You just are an unfeeling jerk. No doubt, with a fair amount of justification, liberals feel the same about conservatives when the subject is taxes.

The National Debt We Can No Longer Ignore

Our country currently has a national debt that is $40 trillion and climbing. We did not get to this point in a hurry. It took years and years. According to the wizards at ChatGPT, if every individual (not household) living in America received a bill to pay an equal amount to retire the debt, it would be $116,850. Thinking that is not going to happen. Feelings aside about what we should spend tax dollars on, the fact is we are spending money we simply do not have.

How much are we spending? This year, the federal budget is $7.4 trillion. We already know this is a budget that produces $1.9 trillion of new debt. Serious adults would be looking to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse everywhere it can be found. At the same time, these adults would devote time and attention to where the money is being assigned.

Where the Federal Money Goes

87 percent of the budget is consumed by three areas, mandatory entitlements (mainly Social Security–$1.7 trillion, Medicare–$1.1 trillion, and Medicaid–$708 billion)—61 percent of the total by themselves—national defense (12 percent), and interest on the national debt (14 percent). That means we pay more interest on the debt than we pay for every other federal program (13 percent) combined.

Addressing the national debt is a serious matter. It should be treated as such and not be subject to a click bait mentality promoted by the platforms providing content to satisfy the desire of their audience to believe the solutions are simple and anyone, including any of them, could fix things with a snap of their fingers, and their eyes closed. Of course, this takes place with two competing and unyielding points of view who each argue that failure to embrace their position constitutes proof of ignorance and/or bad intentions.

Starting With What We Can Agree On

Simply put, we are in a bad place. Neither side should be asked to surrender. Fighting back is not picking a fight. Demanding I embrace 100 percent of a liberal’s argument is not very likely to succeed. An unwillingness to do so is not me being divisive. It is you being intractable. Former Speaker John Boehner and I are exactly the same age. I am fortunate to count him as a friend and to have done his campaign advertising through the years.

Maybe it is time to listen to John. He always argued asking someone to start a conversation focused on what they were willing to give up was both stupid and counterproductive. Instead, his view was we should begin with what it is that we can agree on. Amen to that.

Serious People Doing Serious Things

Perhaps we have passed the point of no return when it comes to getting beyond our political divisions to address an issue as serious as the national debt. No sane person can think we can continue piling up debt in these amounts and at this rate forever. In my dreams, I imagine serious people I have known in my life from both parties sitting at a table working on the problem with penalty points given for grandstanding.

It would please me greatly to have my dream of serious people doing serious things come to life. As a Reagan Republican, relentless faith in the American people gives me a basis to keep a dim hope that we will see the light of day and start acting like serious adults. Go to bed tonight with this thought. Just because you like something does not mean you can have it unless you have the money to pay for it.

Living on Borrowed Time

The thesis is not that anything other than a balanced budget next year is acceptable. The idea is that unless we slow down this debt, and eventually erase it, we are living on borrowed time. Sanity on this topic is neither greed nor heartless insensitivity. It is what is needed right now.