Congress has a bad habit of treating compromise like a good thing even in instances where it does bad things for the American people. The same can be said of bipartisanship. The problem is that in a lot of these instances, Congress coming together doesn’t mean they’re coming together for the people. If anything, they’re coming together for their own political careers. The optics of bipartisanship is stellar, it’s just the details that get ugly.
It’s been an rough year for an ineffective Republican Congress that has repeatedly failed to pass various legislative promises. Now the threat of government shutdown lingers. President Donald Trump recently signed stopgap legislation to keep the government open temporarily, but the need for a long term fix still remains.
The deadline for a deal is December 22.
Congressman Justin Amash may be a complicating factor for Republican leadership, which wouldn’t be a first for him. At a time when spending concerns aren’t a top priority for many in Congress, he’s speaking out against busting up spending caps. Not only does he say it’s not compromise, he calls any lifting of the spending caps collusion against the American people.
The Michigan Congressman is absolutely correct.
Deficit spending is out of control in the United States. Senator Rand Paul recently stated he would oppose any end-of-year legislation that adds to the $20 trillion debt. This is a burden on the American taxpayer, but it’s also a burden on our children and grandchildren. The current generations are not going to be able to touch that deficit, no matter how hard anyone tries. It’s just too big.
The responsibility falls on our children to pay our bills. Our children will have to answer for the reckless habits of the United States government. But even at $20 trillion, it’s really not feasible for our children to touch it. So it goes to their grandchildren and with likely an even deeper deficit than that.
Where does the debt madness end?
Budget negotiators have moved beyond $200 billion in their proposed increase to discretionary spending caps, according to Roll Call. Both defense and non-defense spending would see increases under the terms negotiators are working on.
Does our government need to spend such high amounts of money?
In terms of defense spending, the claim that cuts hurt national defense is absurd. Countless reports of wasteful spending programs have found that not every dollar spent is used towards ensuring our soldiers can defeat the enemy. The same is also applicable to non-defense spending.
The waste is endless. When will Congress set politics aside and find some courage?
Individuals like Senator Rand Paul and Congressman Justin Amash are leaders in Congress. With Senator Paul’s announcement that he will oppose adding to the deficit, he took a stand for the American taxpayer. The same can be said of Congressman Amash speaking out against breaking down spending caps.
Something has to change in Washington D.C. One trillion is a large enough number, but twenty is unfathomable. Now Congress wants to keep going with the debt. In the end, it’s not going to hurt us, it will our children and grandchildren.
