Red, White, or Blue?

As the debt ceiling crisis continues on towards the eleventh hour (and then some), I’m struck by the parallel between members of Congress and our national colors of red, white, and blue. I know, I’m struck alot, it seems, and rarely in normal ways.

Red: Many in Congress are red-faced as they see their colleagues giving away much of the store. “Store” being defined purely upon which side of the aisle one sits. Republicans see giving in way too much on spending cuts while Democrats cannot believe that reducing entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security is a possibility while ignoring the need for raising taxes. Both are enraged.

Blue: Others are holding their breath until they turn the aforementioned color unless they get their way. We know them as members of the Tea Party. No new taxes, a balanced budget amendment, and deep cost cutting. That’s it: simple and nonnegotiable. Would Democrats do the same thing when social programs are threatened. I’d say so, but it hasn’t gotten to that point (yet).

White: While Washington dithers about seeking to make political hay over what should be a routine no-brainer, the rest of us are ashen-faced as we see our already shaky economy threatened to further shrivel by the prospect of a national default.

Who would’ve thought that the good old red, white, and blue would come to this. Not one of us lives under a balanced budget if any kind of outstanding balance is carried on any instrument, be it a credit card or mortgage or equity line of credit or other loan of some sort. To expect the country to do so is foolhardy and short-sighted. Unless, of course, you won’t be seeking federal assistance for the next natural disaster that rolls through your neighborhood. Any unforeseen event would lack funding under a balanced budget. You don’t live that way nor do I. Demanding the government to abide under such limitations is naive. Ironically, some of the more inflexible House members have outstanding personal credit balances that would make most of us recoil in terror.

And one more thing: the “American people” did not have a say in who comprises the Congress other than their own district. So, when national polls show that a majority of the “American people” favor a balanced approach to handling our debt (tax increases and lower spending), no House member (that means you, Boehner,) can lay claim to doing what the “American people sent us here to do” by proposing a singular solution of budget cuts.

How about a little less red or blue in the face of our politicos and a little more middle ground? That could well return a bit of color to our cheeks, too. Campaigning is far different (and easier) than governing, to be sure. The time for governance is long past due.