Debt Crisis Follow-Up: No Hope or Change Here
about the author
Kevin Sullivan is a NGJ 'News and Politics' Editor and a Sophomore at Georgetown University, where he is majoring in International Political Economy.
“Appeasement”
Am I overjoyed that the debt ceiling crisis is over? What crisis? A political standoff over laughable “cuts” to our deficit and the creation of even more government bureaucracy has not done anything to mitigate the most serious threat of our time. The “appeasement” (it was not a compromise) that was decided on is in no way surprising – it’s just business as usual, and the majority of the American people will accept it as the media tells them to breathe a sigh of relief.
Those who read my previous article were well aware that this “appeasement” would be the result – it’s a last-minute backdoor deal that will make no structural change to our failing system of indebtedness. Once the deal is passed, there will be a rush of politicians claiming that they “averted default and imminent disaster.” But as presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) has noted time and time again, we have still defaulted – we were unable to pay the debts we owed upfront, so instead we printed more fiat currency that will devalue our dollar and push the date for “debtmageddon” down the road for our generation.
The New Political Reality
One of my colleagues at NextGen Journal wrote that “Somewhere, there is a compromise to be reached that will perfectly appease House Republicans and Senate Democrats.” This statement does and does not apply to the current deal. After a long battle, moderate House Republicans will be happy in a sense of “accomplishment,” when their result was nothing of the type. After fighting off a grueling assault, the Senate Democrats will be pleased that they have saved their dear entitlement programs, while in reality the programs are as insolvent as ever.
The deal does not satisfy others though. The libertarian right and tea-party right will join the liberal left in voting against the “appeasement” – how is that for bi-partisanship? This reality should demonstrate to the nation the three new political platforms: The constant liberal desire for government expansion, the complacency of Republicans and Democrats with our current failed system, and the revolution of libertarians to reduce governmental power and restore the free American system. Recognizing this new reality is a necessary step for envisioning real “hope and change” and ending business as usual.
Compromise Is Giving Up
Another one of my colleagues wrote that “Compromise helps.” However, it is very important to understand why a debt “compromise” in our day and age will hasten the decline of the American experiment in liberty. Cuts to the deficit, whether through tax increases or spending cuts, do not solve the problem of a grossly oversized government far beyond its bounds in the Constitution. At best, the “appeasement” has slowed the growth of government – we need a reversal. The debt problem is a moral one, not a materialistic one. Those who praise the “moderates” of the House and Senate for compromising are merely compromising on whether we should solve our dangerous government problem today or tomorrow.
What will occur over the next few months in our nation is uncertain. Politicians will likely spar for a week or two over who deserves political credit for the cowardly “appeasement.” After that, business as usual will return as the “crisis” spotlight disappears. The economy will remain sluggish and debt will be on the minds of all individuals and businesses – except for our government’s.
Hope still remains for the credit rating agencies to downgrade the credit of the Federal government. A downgrade would go beyond the positive steps of combating America’s moral hazards – it could reawaken the energy of our generation to take serious steps now, and not when it will be our own insurmountable problem. Our calls to Congressional offices to enact serious reforms will hopefully drown out the calls for deceitful “compromise.”
