Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

President Obama is asking vigorously for an increase in the debt limit that is threatening to bring the United States to a halt, and perhaps fiscal ruin. The House is proving resistant to his demands. The president is promising to make cuts in order to reduce future deficits. Republicans are reluctant to accept Obama's word. They want real cuts now as a condition for signing off on raising the debt limit. All the while, the clock is ticking. It will go off on August 2nd.

Raising the debt limit will not solve any problems. It will get us past the immediate crisis but it will just make the future budget problems all the more difficult. Moreover, whatever spending cuts are made to get the measure passed will almost certainly be contested, as will any concessions made, when the next budget is put forward. Even if the Republicans succeed magnificently in their plans to cut spending, a balanced budget will remain elusive. The deficit and, much worse, the debt will remain regardless of what is agreed upon in Washington and it is the debt that is the real problem. It is because of the debt that we had to pay $164 billion in interest last year. It is because of the debt that we are having this discussion today. As of June this year, the U.S. national debt totalled $14.46 trillion. Unless the U.S. does something about the debt, the spending problem in Washington will never go away. Every year the government will have to set aside over $150 billion off the top of whatever it takes in just to make payments. Even if the government gets back into the black, payments will have to be made and interest will have to be paid. That will make any black ink that might arise more difficult to maintain and less than it would have been otherwise.

Amid the discussion over raising the debt limit is the plight of those who rely on government spending for their well being. They are the ones most at risk. They are at one end of the budget debate. Financial ruin is at the other. You can be assured that the debt limit will be raised. Even the most doctrinaire republican will not bring the country to ruin or cast people into the street in order to protect a principal. The only question is what it will take to garner GOP support.

There is no way to address the debt unless we can rid ourselves of deficits. By raising the debt limit we only make deficits more likely and as a result make future more perilous. In seeking to avert present pain we are assuring future pain that likely will be much worse. By borrowing money we have no hope of paying off any time soon we are robbing the future. We are robbing Peter to pay Paul. We are robbing our children in order to cover our expenses. As important as the deficit and meeting our current obligations are, the debt is the larger problem. Every dollar added to the debt is a dollar that will demand interest. Every dollar paid in interest will be one less dollar our children will have to spend as the debt is carried forward.