It's Time to Talk About the U.S. "Budget"

The debt ceiling being raised is not supposed to be a bargaining tool or even a topic of discussion. When we reach our credit limit, we can't just simply stop all government spending at once.  If we really want to use the family comparison, would you tell the credit card companies that you just now decided to be fiscally responsible and don't intend to use your credit cards anymore nor intend to pay any of your bills? That'd be convenient, but impractical and illegal.  When the U.S. credit rating dropped a couple of years ago, it was due to the world being concerned that we would default on our loans.  We are only as credible as our word and cannot simply make a decision to no longer pay other countries back the money that they have loaned us, and the fact that the option is even discussed each year makes us a credit risk.  Simply put, this isn't optional, and the Republican party has no right to use this as a bargaining chip in their fight to defund anything that helps the average taxpayer.

Kita is very sad to hear about more budget fights

Unchecked capitalism would no doubt be disastrous, because an economy entirely based on greed does not help anyone but the most rich among us.  If we managed the economy in the way that the Republicans would like us to, there would not be any social safety nets, so retirement would be impossible for the middle class.  There would not be a minimum wage or child labor laws.  All schools would be privately funded, creating a vast education gap between the haves and have-nots.  Companies would be able to cut costs, cut corners and pollute the environment as much as they would like.  Don't believe in global warming?  Well, it is your choice to ignore scientific facts, but you won't be able to ignore toxic waste, water that is black and can cause cancer, and smog so thick that you can't see 5 feet in front of you. Government regulations aren't around just to annoy rich people; they are around to save lives and maintain some level of fairness in our society.  

This economy is actually beneficial to corporations.  People are so desperate to find work that they will take jobs below their education level for low wages and no benefits.  Those that complain about how they are treated can simply be replaced by the currently unemployed.  You can go to work every day, do everything right, be a leader or the best person at your job, and you likely will never get a single promotion or wage increase.  People are simply expendable.  Without labor standards, the workplace can be so unsafe that people can die on the job and their employers have no cause to pay their families or take any responsibility for their death.

I think that some voters hear what Republicans have to say about individual issues and think that their arguments make a lot of sense,and on the most basic level they often do seem logical.  However, as voters it is our job to think through their policy ideas to their logical conclusion and figure out which direction is most beneficial to us as humans and citizens.  It is time for us to realize that policies have very real implications and that their effects can be disastrous.  Just something to think about as we prepare for another fight over the budget.