STATE OF THE UNION
I watched the State of the Union Address from the President last night, as I commonly do. There were many things I agreed with and many things I disagreed with...your typical Address. But, of all the things that were said, one stood out to me more than any other.
The President shared of the great accomplishment of trimming over $2 trillion off the nation's deficit. Later in the same speech, he shared how in only a few month's the nation would be faced, once again, with exceeding its Debt Ceiling. If compromises were not reached, automatic spending cuts would go into effect.
OK, wait. I'm not a numbers guy. I'm more of a words guy. But, I'm confused. If, indeed, we have trimmed $2 trillion off of our National Debt, then why are we facing the impending catastrophe of automatic slashing of funding to programs due to exceeding our Debt Ceiling? Which is it? Did we cut and slash and save and put a dent in our deficit or did we spend like there's no tomorrow and are actually in worse shape than ever before? It can't be both. It has to be one or the other.
What I failed to calculate is that the President was speaking a different language than myself. Let me be clear (even if he is not), this language is not indigenous to this president alone. Not even limited to presidents. It's politico-english. In politico-english, if you create 20,000 jobs, but loose 50,000 more overseas, you just added 20,000. If you cut $100,000 billion of waste out of your budget, but added $500,000 billion of pork, you simply cut $100,000 billion. If you cut the deficit by $2 trillion, but are about to exceed your Debt Ceiling, then you simply are the guy on the white horse that cut $2 trillion.
That's politico-english at work. No need to translate. Just take it at face value.
This is not a Republican or Democratic issue. Not a Liberal or Conservative issue. It's just a reality of our political system, and one that assumes an ignorant public that will never say, "Wait, those things don't add up!".
So, why is the average American swimming in debt with their noses barely above water? Because we've learned our economic lessons, not from our parents, but from our politicians. When did BALANCE become a dirty word? As in a BALANCED BUDGET? As in a BALANCED APPROACH that doesn't assume that throwing money at every problem is either helpful or, indeed, the source of the problem.
Maybe we should just try plain old English again. I know...that's a crazy thought.
The President shared of the great accomplishment of trimming over $2 trillion off the nation's deficit. Later in the same speech, he shared how in only a few month's the nation would be faced, once again, with exceeding its Debt Ceiling. If compromises were not reached, automatic spending cuts would go into effect.
OK, wait. I'm not a numbers guy. I'm more of a words guy. But, I'm confused. If, indeed, we have trimmed $2 trillion off of our National Debt, then why are we facing the impending catastrophe of automatic slashing of funding to programs due to exceeding our Debt Ceiling? Which is it? Did we cut and slash and save and put a dent in our deficit or did we spend like there's no tomorrow and are actually in worse shape than ever before? It can't be both. It has to be one or the other.
What I failed to calculate is that the President was speaking a different language than myself. Let me be clear (even if he is not), this language is not indigenous to this president alone. Not even limited to presidents. It's politico-english. In politico-english, if you create 20,000 jobs, but loose 50,000 more overseas, you just added 20,000. If you cut $100,000 billion of waste out of your budget, but added $500,000 billion of pork, you simply cut $100,000 billion. If you cut the deficit by $2 trillion, but are about to exceed your Debt Ceiling, then you simply are the guy on the white horse that cut $2 trillion.
That's politico-english at work. No need to translate. Just take it at face value.
This is not a Republican or Democratic issue. Not a Liberal or Conservative issue. It's just a reality of our political system, and one that assumes an ignorant public that will never say, "Wait, those things don't add up!".
So, why is the average American swimming in debt with their noses barely above water? Because we've learned our economic lessons, not from our parents, but from our politicians. When did BALANCE become a dirty word? As in a BALANCED BUDGET? As in a BALANCED APPROACH that doesn't assume that throwing money at every problem is either helpful or, indeed, the source of the problem.
Maybe we should just try plain old English again. I know...that's a crazy thought.
Amen Pastor Tom! I'm not a numbers person either but I can tell something isn't adding up...btw, "we don't have a spending problem, we have a paying for problem!" Good grief! Have a fantastic week!
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