If I were still teaching strategy full-time, I would require my students to watch Too Big to Fail, and I would devote 2 class periods to discussing it. In the first class, we would talk about what happens when do-gooders in Washington decide that government can do the impossible -- things like trying to make homeownership, an integral part the American dream, a virtual entitlement. In the second class, we would examine what happens when government severely limits its options by taking on mountains of debt that it can ill afford to pay. At the end of those classes, even diehard liberal progressives would have to admit that there are serious limitations to what government can accomplish.
Saying that our government has overreached is an understatement. From welfare to Medicaid to food stamps to Medicare to Social Security to Obamacare to ill-conceived subsidies of various sorts to you name it, our government has made promises that we can't fulfill even if we raise tax rates to stratospheric levels. There is no way under the sun for us to solve the deficit and debt problems we face as a nation unless we scale back those promises. Pretending otherwise is foolish and dangerous.
There once was a time when our leaders lectured third world countries about the idiocy of taking on debt without regard for consequences. Now they can return the favor because what we've done makes what they did look pale by comparison. We've turned the world's largest creditor nation into the largest debtor nation in the history of the world in three short decades. The jig is finally up, and it's time to face the facts.
Paul Ryan has made a good start at getting our financial house in order. Predictably he's being demonized by liberal progressives in Congress, but this much is certain. We must solve our deficit and debt problems, and time is of the essence. Political brinksmanship may be the currency of the realm in Washington, but mistakes at this critical stage can be very costly. They might even mean the fiscal collapse of our nation. Are our political leaders so thoughtless that they would gamble on that possibility? I hope not.
There is plenty of blame to go around. Democrats and Republicans share responsibility for our financial crisis, so playing the blame game is pointless. This is not about political parties, and it's not about haves and have-nots. It's about averting a looming financial catastrophe that will affect every one of us unless the problem is solved. Young and old, rich and poor, all of us have a stake in the outcome. Is the political class up to the challenge? We'll see, but so far only Paul Ryan and a few others have demonstrated that they actually understand the mess we're in and that they have the fortitude to do something about it.
Neil Snyder taught leadership and strategy at the University of Virginia for 25 years. He retired from UVA in 2004 and is currently the Ralph A. Beeton Professor Emeritus at UVA. His blog, SnyderTalk.com, is posted daily.
"...We'll see, but so far only Paul Ryan and a few others have demonstrated that they actually understand the mess we're in and that they have the fortitude to do something about it."
They, and a few others, may have the desire to "do something about it", but the question to me is whether the American people will ALLOW something to be done about it, absent some kind of national emergency that would wake up enough people in time to save the Republic. Until then, I suspect we're looking at more of the "kicking the can farther down the road" game, to the detriment of our children and grandchildren.
The people will speak in November, 2012. The day after the 2012 elections will tell us most of what we need to know. We will know then whether we will have a fighting chance, or if truly bleak times are ahead.
There is plenty of blame to go around. Democrats and Republicans share responsibility for our financial crisis, so playing the blame game is pointless. Pointless my a$$. This sort of moral equivalency is dangerous. We are in this problem because of the liberal welfare state that has made promises it cannot keep. Yes, Reps have been involved in perpetuating and in the case of the prescription drug program, expanding it, but the New Deal and the Great Society are the basis of the current, failed welfare state.
What we are witnessing today is the confrontation between two political philosophies. We need clearer lines to differentiate them. We are at a crossroads. We must have a national dialogue. It will be the liberals and the RINOs versus the conservatives on the role of government in our lives. Collectivism versus individualism. The choice should be made a clear as possible.
Something I never quite understood was how people could say apparently euphemistically that Democrats and republicans share the blame almost as if we are equal in this problem.
Democrats created welfare,
Democrats created Medicaid,
Democrats created food stamps,
Democrats created Medicare,
Democrats created Social Security,
Democrats created Obamacare,
Democrats are responsible for most all ill-conceived subsidies “of various sorts”.
Most of our government’s spending problems are the direct responsibility of members of the democratic party. comparatively little of this spending has been created by republicans. Yet they act as if we are both equally responsible. No many if not most republicans did not want theses irresponsible and inherently unjust wealth redistribution programs in the first place. But we were in the minority cause democrats figured out how to stick their hands into the pockets of the American people and buy their vote with their own money!
While we will without a will unfortunately share the consequences of the Democrat’s carelessness, we do not share equal responsibility for creating this problem!