The ghost of Christmas yet to come

Phil Krinkie, The Daily Record Newswire

Watching Congress and the president debate the financial fate of our country over the past several weeks gives one pause over what lies ahead for our country and our state. With Christmas of 2012 behind us and the tax portion of the “fiscal cliff” of 2013 narrowly avoided, we can use a famous Christmas story to put these events in a context we are all familiar with.

In the famous novel “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, stodgy accountant Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts. The first spirit to visit the miserly Scrooge is the “Ghost of Christmas Past.” The purpose of the visit from the ghost of the past is to show Scrooge why he needs to change his curmudgeonly attitude. In Washington, D.C., the Ghost of Christmas Past is in sharp contrast to the stingy Ebenezer Scrooge. For Congress it has been the overgenerous spending by our elected officials, racking up trillions of dollars in deficits for the past four years running. The belief in Washington seems to be that there is no need to ever balance the federal budget or even make much progress toward that goal.

Next to visit Scrooge is the “Ghost of Christmas Present.” This ghost visit demonstrates to Scrooge the joy Christmas can bring but also the poverty and need that exist alongside it. The Ghost of Christmas Present has been evident at the U.S. Capitol for years, with billion-dollar bailouts of banks, investment firms and auto manufacturers at the same time that our foreclosure rates have peaked and food stamp recipients are at an all-time high. The Government Accounting Office throws lavish parties while the ranks of the unemployed grow, incomes for the middle class tumble and our congressmen fiddle.

Finally, Scrooge has a visit from the “Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.” This spirit is the most frightening and appears only in a black hooded robe; he never speaks and only gestures with one hand. He presents Scrooge with an ominous picture of the future in order to persuade him to change his ways. Just as in the story from 170 years ago, the future appears to be very bleak if there is not a dramatic change of course for our country.

In the latest round of negotiations in Washington between congressional leaders and administration officials to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” there was an inherent lack of will to reduce federal spending. While politicians on both sides of the political aisle liked cutting taxes — or at least making permanent the current tax rate for most Americans — sadly, our elected officials have little appetite to really do the tough work of cutting spending.

Last year’s $1.2 trillion federal deficit, added to the previous deficit, has increased our nation’s debt to over $16 trillion, and the only result of last week’s vote was to postpone the discussion on meaningful budget reductions for two months. Each day the United States adds another $4.3 billion to the debt. The inability of our leaders in Washington to tackle the thorny issue of reducing federal spending forecasts a very gloomy future.

In “A Christmas Carol,” Ebenezer Scrooge’s former partner Jacob Marley, who died seven years prior to this point in the story, appears bound in heavy chains. Every day that Congress fails to enact true spending reform, they add another link in a chain of debt for future generations.

Raising taxes on the top 2 percent of income earners will do nothing to solve our budget problems if Republicans and Democrats alike aren’t willing to do what is necessary to balance the federal budget.

Federal tax increases coupled with state tax increases will deal a crippling blow to our fragile economy, which is already overburdened with massive national debt.

As in the picture portrayed by the “Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come,” there is a bleak and gloomy future ahead unless our elected officials at every level of government tighten their belts and reduce wasteful government spending.