What people don’t realize is that the underlying question is how big the US government should be. Until that is decided, the right only has its talking points, and the left its ad hominem attacks. First agree on whether the public sector should be 35%, 44%, 55%, 65% of the economy. Then come up with a plan to achieve that.
Here is where those numbers come from:
- 35% (pre-Obama)
- 44% (current)
- 55% (Obama-budget result)
- 65% (next socialist goal on path to totalitarian state)
Personally, I’d vote for 20%.
Trying to come up with the plan before the goal is decided is an exercise in futility.
Just as in a household, the US has to live within its means. The credit downgrade is only secondarily related to whatever the current debt limit is. It is primarily a reaction to the ability or inability to meet debts as they come due.
When an individual going bankrupt faces these challenges, nobody counsels getting more credit cards as a permanent solution. It is really only a sideshow that interferes with the real solution of bringing the bankrupt individual or nation’s economy back into balance.