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Time to stop the debt charade
The crisis du jour in Washington now dominating the news, the so-called “fiscal cliff,” is but the latest in seemingly endless political crises that we shouldn’t be having.

We get two different kinds of problems in life: the real ones — the struggle to work and improve the quality of our lives — and the ones we bring on ourselves through poor behavior.

The more time we must deal with the latter type, the less time and energy we have to tackle life’s real problems and challenges.

The political crises that emanate from Washington are invariably problems of the type that result from poor behavior. And this latest, the fiscal cliff, is no exception.

Let’s recall that the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts scheduled to occur in January — the fiscal cliff — are the result of the failure of Republicans and President Barack Obama to agree on a budget deal as a condition for raising the debt ceiling last year.

Why do we have to keep raising the debt ceiling? Because politicians are afraid to be honest with the American people and immediately raise taxes to pay for all their new spending. So instead of raising taxes and paying for our new bills when we incur them, they just borrow the money.

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