The U.S. Budget Is A Demonstration of Values

Martin Luther King said, “We depend on people from all over the world, even before we’ve finished our breakfast in the morning.” We live in an interdependent world that is steeped in globalism.

The government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis is one of many shortcomings that elected officials created. America is not a game to play like a chess strategy. This is nation of people; not pawns. Politicians either need to rise to the occasion or step aside and let someone else do the job.

As an elected official, one does not get to piecemeal a budget or choose avoidance. Politicians do not select which programs and departments they want to fund. It is not based on what one likes, dislikes, or ideology. A budget is a reflection of values. Some lawmakers’ values are out of step with the country as a whole. Americans are tired of the party bosses causing economic discontinuity every other month. We live in a global economy; not a bartering system. This is capitalism. Washington is weakening the resolve of this country. If this is what democracy or a free market economy looks like, this is justification of why some nations object it.

The current national debt is 17.2 trillion dollars. Legislators created this economic monster by not standing up for the nation. In order to deal with the budget crisis, politicians need to search for integrative solutions and create a plan for implementation. Current and future generations are going to pay that back; whether we want to accept it or not. Recently, Congress voted on a bipartisan budget deal that brings down the national debt by just over 1 trillion dollars in ten years. That is dismal. That is not timely or strategic. So, is it going to take 190 years to balance the budget?

The United States economy shrank behind the 2007 Great Recession. It is going to take more than budget cuts for the economy to roar again. Washington has to build up the middle, the bottom, and the top simultaneously. The foundation of the American economy is the middle class. Therefore, the middle must expand. The poor or lower class needs to shift from dependence, excluding the elderly; to being members of the middle class. And, the upper class needs to gather more wealth. If the wealth in the world is going to increase, it needs to increase in the United States of America.

Look forward Washington. You have a significant task that lies before the nation and the world. Where you place the greatest and least amount of funds demonstrate what is important to the country and you. Your value internalization plays out on a magnified global stage. We live in a complex world and our value systems and the national budget should reflect such.