The Debt Ceiling Debate Driving You Crazy Too?
All this debt ceiling debate stuff is getting on my nerves. It's not that I'm paying all that much attention to it. The debt ceiling will be raised, whether it's by August 2nd or sometime after that. And most of us already know that our politicians will just milk this thing to their best advantage before they come up with some "solution."
Of course, raising the debt ceiling won't solve a thing. The federal debt is the real problem. You do know that, right? Geez, I hope so. If not, we're in big trouble. And maybe my uncertainty about how many of you do realize it is getting me a bit edgy lately.
The other day I dropped a quarter outside. It happened when I took my keys out of my front pants pocket. The quarter had been peacefully napping until I disturbed it by pulling the keys out. Whatever happened, the quarter came out with the keys and you could hear a tinny clinky sound as it hit the pavement. When I looked around, I couldn't find it. It's not like it could have gone very far. Okay, maybe it nestled somewhere in the grass next to the sidewalk and kind of burrowed in to get back to its nap. But I looked there too and - nothing. I hate when this sort of thing happens. Where did it go?
Why am I telling you this? Because it it struck me that the sound of that quarter was like the sound of federal spending and the build-up of the federal debt. You know it's happening and has been happening for years and years and years. But where did it all go?
Not only do you know it gets spent, but you know that so much gets spent that the government has to borrow money to keep up with its own spending. So, again, where does it all go - all this money that gets spent, so much of it that the government has to borrow more and more of it to be able to keep spending it?
But wait. Isn't this madness? Why does the government have to keep spending it like that? What's the frantic rush to spend it all about? Why don't they just stop borrowing and just spend what they have? Wouldn't that at least stop the federal debt getting bigger and bigger - or at least slow it down a lot?
Oh, I'm sorry for being so simplistic and naive. It must be this summer heat - either that or that edginess I described before. I just lost it for a second. I don't know what happened to me, but I'm better now. Imagine anyone with any financial knowledge and experience asking these questions. Ridiculous! I sound like some sort of rube from the sticks, not the sophisticated financial professional from the capital of the financial world, New York City, that I'm supposed to be. What am I doing asking these basic simple questions?
Sorry.
Anyway, I found the quarter eventually. (I'm nothing if not persistent.) It was right there in one of those cracks in the sidewalk - sort of disguised so that I wouldn't find it.
What about all that federal spending? We hear all those quarters falling and clinking and there's hardly any of us really has any idea where they go. But I wonder whether that's about to change. I wonder if, at the very least, people are getting to the end of the line just accepting that all this spending is really necessary.You do sense some restlessness out there as politicians on both sides play out this debt ceiling limit drama. At least I sense it.
I guess we'll see if it's anything worth noting when the debt ceiling is raised - as it surely will be. Will people just go back to not making a fuss? Or will they finally understand that the federal debt is the issue - maybe the issue of our lives - and not whether the debt ceiling is raised.
In any case, maybe you can see why I persisted in finding my quarter. I think I'll be needing every bit of my earthly possessions along with my wits when the you-know-what-hits-the-fan, as it surely will one of these days. And since I don't know when that's going to happen, and what form it will take (inflation, hyperinflation, social unrest, political upheaval...the list seems to grow every day), the best I can do is try to keep myself whole and sane - while holding on to my quarters.
Of course, raising the debt ceiling won't solve a thing. The federal debt is the real problem. You do know that, right? Geez, I hope so. If not, we're in big trouble. And maybe my uncertainty about how many of you do realize it is getting me a bit edgy lately.
The other day I dropped a quarter outside. It happened when I took my keys out of my front pants pocket. The quarter had been peacefully napping until I disturbed it by pulling the keys out. Whatever happened, the quarter came out with the keys and you could hear a tinny clinky sound as it hit the pavement. When I looked around, I couldn't find it. It's not like it could have gone very far. Okay, maybe it nestled somewhere in the grass next to the sidewalk and kind of burrowed in to get back to its nap. But I looked there too and - nothing. I hate when this sort of thing happens. Where did it go?
Why am I telling you this? Because it it struck me that the sound of that quarter was like the sound of federal spending and the build-up of the federal debt. You know it's happening and has been happening for years and years and years. But where did it all go?
Not only do you know it gets spent, but you know that so much gets spent that the government has to borrow money to keep up with its own spending. So, again, where does it all go - all this money that gets spent, so much of it that the government has to borrow more and more of it to be able to keep spending it?
But wait. Isn't this madness? Why does the government have to keep spending it like that? What's the frantic rush to spend it all about? Why don't they just stop borrowing and just spend what they have? Wouldn't that at least stop the federal debt getting bigger and bigger - or at least slow it down a lot?
Oh, I'm sorry for being so simplistic and naive. It must be this summer heat - either that or that edginess I described before. I just lost it for a second. I don't know what happened to me, but I'm better now. Imagine anyone with any financial knowledge and experience asking these questions. Ridiculous! I sound like some sort of rube from the sticks, not the sophisticated financial professional from the capital of the financial world, New York City, that I'm supposed to be. What am I doing asking these basic simple questions?
Sorry.
Anyway, I found the quarter eventually. (I'm nothing if not persistent.) It was right there in one of those cracks in the sidewalk - sort of disguised so that I wouldn't find it.
What about all that federal spending? We hear all those quarters falling and clinking and there's hardly any of us really has any idea where they go. But I wonder whether that's about to change. I wonder if, at the very least, people are getting to the end of the line just accepting that all this spending is really necessary.You do sense some restlessness out there as politicians on both sides play out this debt ceiling limit drama. At least I sense it.
I guess we'll see if it's anything worth noting when the debt ceiling is raised - as it surely will be. Will people just go back to not making a fuss? Or will they finally understand that the federal debt is the issue - maybe the issue of our lives - and not whether the debt ceiling is raised.
In any case, maybe you can see why I persisted in finding my quarter. I think I'll be needing every bit of my earthly possessions along with my wits when the you-know-what-hits-the-fan, as it surely will one of these days. And since I don't know when that's going to happen, and what form it will take (inflation, hyperinflation, social unrest, political upheaval...the list seems to grow every day), the best I can do is try to keep myself whole and sane - while holding on to my quarters.
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