Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“The story never really changes. In each iteration, both sides dance on the brink of default until nearly the last minute, then agree to minor spending cuts now and big ones later in return for raising the ‘debt ceiling,’ then cruise toward the next episode when those big spending cuts never arrive and Congress gets up against its credit card limit yet again. Rinse, repeat. The big question, which never seems to get asked very loudly, is ‘why do we go through this over and over, with big blow-ups every few years, and nothing ever getting really settled?’ The answer, as popularized in several mid-20th-century songs: ‘Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.’ Americans want all kinds of goodies, and American politicians want to hand out those goodies. Americans don’t want to pay for those goodies, and American politicians don’t want to demand payment for those goodies.” (05/18/23)