When the boat has a leak with water flooding in, you have to stop the water from flooding in first. Otherwise you drown attempting to bail it out.
Good analogy, but let me ask you this ~~~
Which is greater --- the flow of water coming into the boat, or the water that's already in the boat?
Obviously, both should be addressed, but which of these problems is more urgent, in terms of keeping your boat afloat?
If the boat has a leak, but not much water in the hull, then you address the leak first. If the leak is large, but has only just begun, you do the same.
If the leak is small, but has been slowly trickling into the hull over a long period of time, you may have already taken on a sufficient amount of water to endanger the vessel.
In that case, you need to forget about the trickle, and man the pumps, else you'll soon capsize.
I personally believe America's boat is in the latter condition. Should we plug the leak now? By all means, but we need to bail water as if our lives depended on it.