We often hear that government should have to balance its checkbook, “just like the average American family does”. By and large, the pundits and politicos that Mr. Blunt and Cranky has heard espousing this line have focused on our national “family” cutting back on expenses. As a family man who can, indeed, balance a checkbook, he knows that you can only cut so much before you start skimping on meals, medicines, winter coats for the kids, etc.  No, sometimes a family member has to get a second job to get the accounts back order.

So it is with governments local, state and national: you can only cut so much before you have to bring in some more green and folding to keep the lights on.  And in spite of inflation, wars, national calamities, and a host of other costly items, we have kept taxes low and even lowered some further. We are at the point where the majority of the financially literate amongst American families and businesses are saying “enough already, raise some friggin’ taxes”.

In this case, we had 8+ years of a Congress that  ran up the credit card balance to absurd heights (like many families have done), and now don’t want to look at the common-sense solution of bringing in more money temporarily  to pay it off (like many families have done). If government officials are so fond of the “family” analogy, let’s see them follow it more closely.

Mr. B & C