Everyone in Washington is against borrowing money endlessly to fuel the rapid growth of government, but few of them are willing to stop – or even slow it down.
Take, for example the borrower-in-chief – Barack Obama – the man who has borrowed more money than all previous U.S. presidents combined.
As a senator in 2006, he actually voted against raising the debt limit. That, of course, was because George W. Bush was the president.
Here's what Obama said in March of that year on the Senate floor: "The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, 'the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."
So what did Obama do upon entering the White House? He began borrowing at three times the pace of the Bush administration. He threatened to stop paying active-duty military personnel should the debt limit not be raised. He threatened not to send out Social Security checks to senior citizens if he didn't get trillions more in borrowed money to spend.
Obama was not alone back in 2006 among Democrats demanding to shut off the borrowing spigot. But all that changed when Obama entered office. In fact, only a handful of courageous Republicans voted to halt the borrowing madness.
And the cycle of borrowing and spending will continue until the American people demand that it stop.
The new debt limit will be reached probably in November, perhaps shortly after the election.
If the American people don't rise up in anger at both Democrats and Republicans before then, do you know what will happen?
The debt limit will be raised again – and again and again and again.
Both parties are like drug addicts. They say they want to quit, but they can't. They won't. They will never stop until the drug of borrowing is denied them by the American people.
So how do we do that?
We won't be able to stop them by waiting until November. The work begins now.
We've got to create a new political culture in Washington, beginning with the Republican House, where there are at least some brave souls attempting to do the right thing. They need help. They need reinforcements. They need encouragement not to listen to the Washington establishment and their own compromised leadership.
There is only one program working to achieve that goal.
This is an urgent priority no matter who wins the presidential election.
It's even more urgent should Obama win re-election, because he will overextend America's debt obligations to the point of no return. Republicans control the House through the end of 2012 and will likely control it still in 2013. They have all the power to just say no to more borrowing.
Take away their excuses to enable Obama to destroy the country.
Take away their excuses to enable the possibility of a new Republican president from doing the same thing.
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