In response to the open letter to U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble in the Oct. 3 edition of the County Post, I believe our congressman has tried to bring some business sense to Washington. But it is difficult to change the spending ways of our elected officials and put us on a track to fiscal responsibility.
The letter accused Ribble of many things, but I would like to give my opinion on raising the debt ceiling, again.
Here’s a simple way to look at this problem. You have a credit card with a $5,000 limit. You have charged things you needed like a washer and dryer, gas for your two cars, and maybe some things you really did not need, but wanted and the card was easy to use. It has reached the max because you never could afford to pay it off, only make small monthly payments. Now, you are in a pickle. You can’t pay it off, and have no more credit on the card. So, if the card company will not extend your credit to $10,000, you go to another company, and borrow money from them to pay off the first card and get a higher limit on that card. Instead of changing your ways, and not charging so many things, you continue until you max out that card.
This is not the way we handle our own finances, at least it should not be. We prioritize which bills to pay, and how much to pay on them so we can get out of debt as soon as possible. But not the government. For years, we have borrowed money to pay only the interest we owe on the borrowed money.
We are told we can not default on our debt, as that would be terrible. However, why should we default? There is enough money coming in through taxes to pay for what we are spending right now.
However, if you add another very expensive program like the Affordable Care Act, you now do not have enough money. So, this is the time to decide which extra programs and pork projects we need to cut so we can pay our bills and the afa if that is what we want. When we prioritize in government, we must also decide what we need versus what we want.
We are experiencing a shutdown right now, and nonessential people have been told to stay home. If they are nonessential today, will they be essential tomorrow? How many projects funded by government are truly needed, and how many just wanted to protect votes in some politician’s home state?
How many government programs are funded by our taxes that are ridiculous. You have heard of many of them. Maybe they should be considered nonessential.
So, let us think of the government debt as we would our own debt. Let’s find ways to borrow less, pay off the debt we have and not put it on the backs of our kids and grand kids. And, let us not denigrate those who have been elected who are trying to bring sanity to the system along with fiscal responsibility.
Rose Marie Reynolds
Waupaca