Dakota Beacon

Grassroots gleanings on the debt ceiling imbroglio may be a dime a dozen but, for the record, here are my two cents worth extracted from the passing scene.

            The print and electronic media cabal gives President Obama all the cover necessary in his attempt to ensure his re-election is paved with gold -- literally. For this reason, in principle, the major media sources are unreliable and not to be trusted. That said, the cabal offers a fascinating collidescope of misleading factoids and disinformation.

            Ostensibly, the furor is all about the debt ceiling. Everything else is noise. If the debt ceiling is denied, then what? Why can’t America live within its means?

            In fact, the debt ceiling is not the real issue. The real issue is DEBT piled upon DEBT without restraint. Either we face the music now by controlling our national spending habit or we increase the debt limit and continue spending without resources into oblivion. Raising the debt ceiling doesn’t solve the problem. It perpetuates it. The problem with kicking the can down the road is that we’re running out of road. Besides, what’s so terrible about insisting that spending be reduced more than the debt limit is raised?

            We have no constitutional spending limits such as a constitutional amendment to impose restraint by law.

            We have no firm ceiling or limits on outlay. Like our spending habit, the debt ceiling adjusted upward whenever congress felt like it -- until the Tea Party contingent stopped it.

            We have no fiscal discipline. America has been operating without a budget for 2 1/2 years.

            We have no written scorable plan from the White House or the Senate for a debt ceiling increase. To their credit, the House Republicans produced the only two plans on the table. The first was the Ryan Budget for 2012 prepared by Congressman Paul Ryan in April 2011. It passed the House but was defeated in the Democrat-controlled Senate. The second was the Cut, Cap and Balance bill passed by the House, condemned by the media and tabled by the Democrat-controlled Senate without a hearing. It provided the debt ceiling increase Obama requested. The White House and the Senate have produced nothing in writing. By “nothing” is meant a proposed balance sheet with spending items listed in the left-hand column and associated dollar figures listed in the right-hand column. All must be balanced against revenue.

            Non-transparency is the way the Obama wants it. The White House prefers the authority to spend more money without a budget and not be held accountable in the 2012 elections.

            And, what’s all this talk about compromise? How do you compromise with a debt thief?

            Spend-aholic insanity is a lot like alcoholism. There is no question America is already financially bankrupt with a debt burden of trillions of dollars. We’re just not ready to admit it. To ease the pain we raise the shield of denial.

            A dose of reality will shatter that denial. Whether the senate and the president get their wish to raise the debt ceiling at this point matters little. The risk is not “default” on our national debt. That would only happen if Treasury Secretary Geithner chose not to pay the interest to creditors holding our national debt. We have the monthly tax revenue to pay that interest.

            The real risk is the downgrading of America’s financial rating by Moody’s and by Standard & Poor’s, the major credit rating agencies. If America’s debt ceiling is increased but congress and the president do not show a willingness to restrain the skyrocketing spending, America’s credit worthiness will still be downgraded. Downgrading America’s AAA rating would ruin our financial standing around the world which may take years to regain. These agencies, by the way, are the same agencies that gave Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac a AAA status when they were insolvent and needed a bailout.

            The financial constraints and regulations congress is so fond of imposing on the private sector should apply equally to government departments. The biggest monopoly and money waster in America today is the federal government. The price we pay for cavalier spending is bankruptcy.

            This is what America gets for electing a community organizer with no private enterprise experience and only 142 days in the US Senate.

            My guess? Obama does not want to be Jimmy Carter II. Obama will cave in and, if he does, God bless America.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at P. O. Box 337, Stanley, ND 58784 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).