Why? Because we can't afford it

I hate politics and just about everything about them, but sometimes a political situation weighs so much on my mind that I just have to get it out.  With that in mind I offer this allegory to our current economic situation.

There are good things that need to be done for our home and our family.  Some would even argue that they are necessary.  Replacing some broken furniture comes to mind.  All of the kids want shelves for their bedrooms.  We have nails poking through our living room carpet at one of the entrances, and Wyatt and I forget regularly and cut our feet on them. (yes, I should update our tetanus shots...ick!)  The most pressing situation, however, is the strong water smell in the kids's bathroom.  We have checked all the fixtures and found no leaks.  Ironically, this bathroom sits above part of our kitchen, and when it rains, we have a ceiling leak in the kitchen.  Hmmm, I suspect that we have a leak from the roof that is behind the shower wall where the shower faucet is installed.  That faucet really needs to be replaced, but it would require tearing out the wall and replacing the surround for the bathtub- a repair that we have been warned will be incredibly expensive.  Now we are not going to just let this go.  At some point (hopefully very soon) Andy will climb on the roof and see if he can find the leak, and we will get that fixed if that is even the problem.  The damaged wall, however, will have to wait along with the leak in the basement and the electrical work that needs to be done.  I do not point all this out to whine or to indicate that we are living in some dire situation.  Our home is warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and mostly dry and comfortable.

Our credit is good enough to fix all of this right now, but doing so would be doing so on credit.  Instead, we will wait for the funds to make these repairs because we do not want to borrow against our future.  We do not want to reach our "debt ceiling" or risk defaulting on loans because of a future we cannot see. (Andy and I work on salary, so we don't expect an increase in revenue.)  Nor do we want to saddle our children with debt as they reach their adult years.  We know that these issues will not resolve themselves, but we also know that other emergencies will arise.  Our cars come to mind as Andy's vehicle is particularly old.

Would fixing our home issues be a good thing? Of course.  Is it necessary?  Many would argue that it is. Which is the better path, spending money we don't have to fix this stuff, or waiting until we have the money?  We choose to wait.

My point is this:  there are many good and even necessary government programs.  However, they are no good if the entire nation is crippled under the expense of these things.  Does this mean that I don't care about people's needs?  Of course not.  I just know that some things can wait even if they make some of us uncomfortable for a while.  Believe me, I care about my children, both their present and future, but sometimes we just can't afford things even when they appear to be necessary.

So our national budget has been cut, but we are still spending more than we are taking in. When will this stop?  I mean, really folks, I do think there is some waste in the national budget.  Honestly, there is some waste in my own budget, but I am not approaching my debt ceiling.

Dave Ramsey's comparison of national debt to a household debt

While I am not a huge Dave Ramsey fan, he is right on this count.  It is mind boggling.  I know the real problem here is popularity.  Congress does not want to lose their popularity by admitting that there are some things that have to go.  I understand that.  It is hard to do that when you are a parent, but it has to be done.