Op-Ed: Debt Isn't Compassionate

Debt Isn't Compassionate

By Sam Bain, Co-Chairman - Ohio College Republican Federation

A few weeks ago the College Republican National Committee released a television ad in Iowa titled "What's Your Plan?" detailing the staggering national debt and prompting candidates to tell us their plan to balance the budget. Though, the line which stood out most during the ad was the phase, "Debt Isn't Compassionate."

When I heard this I was (sarcastically) at war with myself. The Democratic Party has been in power and has spent more than all previous administrations combined. Yet at the same time, this is the party that claims to stick up for the little guy, promote the middle class and defend any other category one could call a victim. They have used the public education system and strong armed the media into having Americans believe that they are entitled to everything under the sun. You can't even touch Medicare and Social Security without Democratic telling grandmas the GOP will push them off a cliff.

You can't cut Planned Parenthood without being a misogynist who loathes women and if you cut National Public Radio, you, of course, hate free speech. And if you even think about balancing a state budget by paying public workers more responsibly, be careful as you will be deemed an anti-cop, anti-teacher lunatic who wants to destroy the middle class.

The Democratic Party exerts all these claims in the name of compassion for the American people, but can they hold truth to these? Do parents rack up thousands of dollars in credit card debt to buy their children everything, only to sacrifice the security of their future prosperity? The answer is no because that's bad parenting and for the government to do the same is simply bad government.

You would think that reaching the debt ceiling would cause some to wake up. In the midst of reaching a $14.3 billion debt limit what does Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner do? He asks for higher ceiling. Apparently no one in the administration realizes the damage that is being done to the country or maybe they're just too compassionate to care. Einstein said the "Definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results." Spending more money won't balance the budget. It won't create jobs and it won't the help the economy. It will only drive us deeper into the abyss of destruction.

This all very simple really, but Washington always finds a way to make things more complicated. Obama and his party have recklessly dug us into a deficit only offering the solution of raising taxes and a few minimal cuts. Punting your way to prosperity has never worked. A losing baseball team in the bottom of the 9th does not choose to punt the ball; they hit it out of the park. America is now in its last few innings and future generations cannot afford to have their government only offer half-baked solutions that barely do anything to cut the national debt.

The very same youth that voted Obama into office, he is now burdening with a dire fiscal crisis averaging well over $40 thousand per citizen. As a college a student, I hope my generation realizes the consequences and literal cost of reelecting this man. For the recent college graduates, do any of you plan to pay off your school loans by spending more money? What about your American dream of buying a new home for your future family one day? None of that prosperity can be achieved by digging yourself into debt so why have we let our government away with it.

Balancing the budget is one of the greatest acts of compassion Congress could do because it provides a foundation for future generation to carry on the torch of freedom. The fact of the matter is that the current president and his party have no intention of paying down the national debt. They have assumed absolutely no responsibility for the power they have been given and are too weak to actually get serious about the solvency of the U.S. The youth that helped elect the Obama are going to have to be the ones to salvage their own future and make this man a one-term president. Our nation depends on it; our children's future relies on it.