I looked at the websites of the candidates for Senate and the 3rd Congressional District, and they all express a desire for fiscal responsibility. Which is most appreciated given that the national debt is $34 trillion, and annual interest payments exceed $600 billion.
But lots of people in Congress express the same sentiments, and all we ever get is fancy speeches followed by twiddling of thumbs. I’d like candidates to distinguish themselves by saying how they would be effective in this matter.
Federal spending is often broken down into mandatory (Social Security and Medicare) and discretionary. The latter gets further broken down into defense and everything else. That includes foreign aid (lots of people want to cut that) as well as air traffic control and dam safety (much more popular).
Last year’s deficit was greater than the total amount spent on all nondefense discretionary programs combined. In other words, while it would be nice to solve our problems by cutting waste or eliminating a few ineffective programs, fiscal responsibility has to encompass defense, Medicare and Social Security spending, or raising taxes.
This isn’t easy, especially if you want to be re-elected, or least not have your successor undo your accomplishments. I can’t imagine it being the product of a single party, either. So candidates, how will you persuade your colleagues to work on an effective bipartisan solution to our budget quandary? We don’t need any more twiddling.
Steve Glaser, Holladay