Re. 21 govt. shutdowns since 1976 (excluding one by President Bartlet on “The West Wing”), it would be interesting to see which party held majority rule most of those times.
Re. “(Interest) payments consume a significant portion of the federal budget, reducing the funds available for other essential services like education, healthcare, and infrastructure” ~ perhaps it would be good to include ‘defense, veteran benefits and critical manufacturing’ (e.g. complex supply lines) to attract bipartisan support, just as we should be using keywords like ‘democracy’ and ‘republic’.
Re. “the consequences (of national debt) won’t be felt immediately, but years ~ perhaps decades ~ from now. By then, today’s leaders will be long gone.”
Some leaders, yes but career politicians like Grassley @ 43+ years and McConnell @ 39+, not so much.
It’s sad if they’ve remained in office despite kicking balanced budgets down a long and winding road.
Q: Would term limits help or simply release shorter-termers from fiscal responsibility?
Theoretically, with term limits, a legislator might be moved to do the right thing since (s)he wouldn't have anything to lose. However, if it's a matter of policy doctrinairism and there's no willingness to compromise, then term limits won't matter. By the way, Gingrich's Contract for America (more accurately, "contract on America") promised or committed to term limits and nary a Republican Congressman fulfilled the promise.
Thank you for this summary, Herb! I favor raising tax rates for corporations and billionaires, which will likely not happen while so many damn republicans remain in the legislature. So we must vote more democrats who have shown willingness and ability to govern into office this year.
This is a great explanation of this issue and I'm going to carry it around with me. Seriously, it's a very cogent piece and I thank you for taking the time to write it and share it with us.
Debbie...I really appreciate your feedback. I was hoping that the piece would raise people's awareness of this issue and they'd share it with others. It's one of those issues that ought to be top-of-mind but gets obscured in the noise of the sensation-oriented news. Thanks.
Very good piece, thanks. I can’t recall any time that Dems in charge have threatened default to try to “get their way” — of course conservatives have long wanted to starve Fed Treasury as a means of eliminating most Fed govt roles… 10 years of continued prosperity with rational taxation would dramatically reduce the debt!
Well said, thank you!
Re. 21 govt. shutdowns since 1976 (excluding one by President Bartlet on “The West Wing”), it would be interesting to see which party held majority rule most of those times.
Re. “(Interest) payments consume a significant portion of the federal budget, reducing the funds available for other essential services like education, healthcare, and infrastructure” ~ perhaps it would be good to include ‘defense, veteran benefits and critical manufacturing’ (e.g. complex supply lines) to attract bipartisan support, just as we should be using keywords like ‘democracy’ and ‘republic’.
Re. “the consequences (of national debt) won’t be felt immediately, but years ~ perhaps decades ~ from now. By then, today’s leaders will be long gone.”
Some leaders, yes but career politicians like Grassley @ 43+ years and McConnell @ 39+, not so much.
It’s sad if they’ve remained in office despite kicking balanced budgets down a long and winding road.
Q: Would term limits help or simply release shorter-termers from fiscal responsibility?
Theoretically, with term limits, a legislator might be moved to do the right thing since (s)he wouldn't have anything to lose. However, if it's a matter of policy doctrinairism and there's no willingness to compromise, then term limits won't matter. By the way, Gingrich's Contract for America (more accurately, "contract on America") promised or committed to term limits and nary a Republican Congressman fulfilled the promise.
Thank you for this summary, Herb! I favor raising tax rates for corporations and billionaires, which will likely not happen while so many damn republicans remain in the legislature. So we must vote more democrats who have shown willingness and ability to govern into office this year.
This is a great explanation of this issue and I'm going to carry it around with me. Seriously, it's a very cogent piece and I thank you for taking the time to write it and share it with us.
Debbie...I really appreciate your feedback. I was hoping that the piece would raise people's awareness of this issue and they'd share it with others. It's one of those issues that ought to be top-of-mind but gets obscured in the noise of the sensation-oriented news. Thanks.
Very good piece, thanks. I can’t recall any time that Dems in charge have threatened default to try to “get their way” — of course conservatives have long wanted to starve Fed Treasury as a means of eliminating most Fed govt roles… 10 years of continued prosperity with rational taxation would dramatically reduce the debt!