If there’s a cliche that has been used more than any other the last week, it’s “kicking the can down the road”. According to The Online Slang Dictionary, this phrase is translated as:
to procrastinate.
“Kicking the can down the road” has been a favorite metaphor politicians have used to describe someone who is postponing a decision or avoiding an issue.
So, how does this portend our debt crisis? I guess we first have to define the meaning of the term “crisis”, as has been used by countless members of the Obama administration to describe the pending approach to the debt limit.
Is “crisis” an apt word to describe the event of reaching the debt limit? Again, that depends on your view of government funding. Let’s break it down into an easier example that can be understood by all.
You have 3 credit cards with a total credit limit of $15,000. You have watched your balances increase over the last several years and all of a sudden, you’ve maxed them all out. You only have so much money coming in every week and you have to pay at least the minimum on your credit cards every month. What do you do?
In my household, you discontinue using the credit cards and you begin to work down the balances. The problem is this: the minimum payments do nothing to shrink the balances, they only pay the interest on the debt and a small portion of the balance. To make an impact on those balances, you have to pay at least double the minimum payment.
The problem is one of cash flow. You have to dedicate a chunk of your paycheck to pay down those balances. You’ve now worked a payment plan into your budget and are making progress on paying down the balances of your credit cards. All of a sudden, your kid’s car needs some repairs, or a health issue has saddled you with a sizable deductible. What do you do? You run the balances of your credit cards back up to the max and start over with paying them down. Frustrating, but it’s the only avenue you have. You secretly hope for a promotion and a raise, although in this economy, you’re just happy to have a job.
You’re managing your finances the best way you can and it’s frustrating because you only have so much cash flow to deal with everything. But the bottom line is that you do manage.
The federal government has not learned how to manage their “debt limit”. They keep increasing it on the knowledge that YOU and I will have to repay it. This is one screwed up reality and it’s time to change it.
The federal government does not need to be given an increase in their credit limit. They need to deal with what we’ve already given them and continue to give them every year.
Sarah Palin had a great post on her Facebook page yesterday and it’s also posted on SarahPac. In it, she said:
The same “experts” who got us into this mess are now telling us that the only way out of our debt crisis is to “increase revenue,” but not by creating more jobs and therefore a larger tax base; no, they want to “increase revenue” by raising taxes on job creators who are taxed enough already! As Margaret Thatcher said, “The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” That’s where we are now. Hard working taxpayers have been big government’s Sugar Daddy for far too long, and now we’re out of sugar. We don’t want big government, we can’t afford it, and we are unwilling to pay for it.
This debt ceiling debate is the perfect time to do what must be done. We must cut. Yes, I’m for a balanced budget amendment and for enforceable spending caps. But first and foremost we must cut spending, not “strike a deal” that allows politicians to raise more debt! See, Washington is addicted to OPM – Other People’s Money. And like any junkie, they will lie, steal, and cheat to fund their addiction. We must cut them off and cut government down to size.
I couldn’t agree more. The “crisis” that we face is one that is manufactured by the addicts in Washington. Think about someone that is facing withdrawal from their addiction. The common refrain is usually “Man, just this one last time”.
It’s time to pick up the can and say “NO MORE”! The road has just reached a dead end.
Cross-posted on Roderic Deane