Hard Times Ahead

Pardon my gloom. We may not be facing apocalyptic earthquakes, but a clear-headed look at our nation's budget is enough to leave anyone spooked.

The country has lost control of its finances. Mandatory entitlement spending will be 70 percent of the federal budget by 2030 and the nation has decided to wait for a crisis rather than do something about it. The president attempted created a bipartisan commission to tackle the deficit, and then ignored its level-headed recommendations. A gang of six brave senators attempted to craft legislation to enact them, and now it's falling apart. The president proposed a budget that reformed almost nothing, and the Republican house responded with a budget that did a lot with little hope of passing (it was voted down last week). The one possible 2012 presidential candidate who has the experience and determination to bring folks together and seriously deal with the budget has decided not to run. For their part, voters have proclaimed yet again that messing with Medicare spells political death. And why wouldn't they? The average American with the median salary pays $150K into Medicare over their lifetime and gets back $400K in benefits. Much better to let your children foot the difference than accept less benefits and higher taxes yourself.

Their children will indeed be footing the bill (and if you consider the average age of the voting public, I'm one of those children). If this decades-old milieu of incompetency, denial, procrastination, selfishness, and irresponsibility continues the bill will come in the form of a debt crisis like we're seeing right now in Europe. Think real government shutdown. Think worse unemployment. Think bending to the will of other countries (who we may not like so much) because we need their help.

Does America like crisis? Perhaps so; we have weathered the second-worst economic disaster in our short history and have decided responsibility today is still worse than catastrophe tomorrow. See you at the Great Abdication.

Sources not linked: CBPP | NYT
Image: brownpau