Today President Barack Obama has once again asked for the debt limit to be raised, this time by $1.2 trillion. The last time the debt ceiling was raised, it was by $2.1 trillion and supposed to be through 2013. Now excuse me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean the Government has spent more than the originally planned? I, for one am quite shocked about this development as I am sure it has never happened in our country's history before now.
Oh wait...
It has happened before, quite a bit actually. It's just another one of those broken promises politicians always run on to try and get more votes, even the ones that break those promises in the first place. I'm not saying everyone involved in politics does this, but when it comes to important things like spending more money that should be spent or money being allocated for something is spent quicker than anticipated, it happens on a yearly basis.
I can't say I like the practice, but the problem is no one really steps up to the plate and challenges them on this. It's like a get out of jail free card because voters expect Government to spend more than they always say they do. Whenever someone says 'we need to spend less' they're always countered with 'you don't care about our future' or something along those lines. My question to them is this: "If you care about our future, why not care about the now?" Politicians today are on a 1-year cycle; 1 year of spending money in Washington, 1 year of spending money on campaigns, and repeat.
People decry that we need change in Washington. That's what they wanted 3 years ago when they voted Barack Obama as our President. I don't think, however, that this is change. At the very least, it's gotten worse, and not just since Obama became President. At some point, money changing hands, the 1-year cycles, etc. all becomes too much. A course reversal at some point is going to be needed for good change to happen. Hopefully it will be done under-budget.
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