Snoopy, the Peanuts Sunday Comic Strip and the Thirteen Trillion Dollar National Debt
Recent news stories remind me of an old Sunday Peanuts comic strip. Snoopy is out jogging one day when his knees start to complain about the punishment they are taking from the jog. The feet then chime in about how they are taking the most pounding and how much they hurt. The lungs then volunteer that they are absorbing the most punishment since they have to work so hard pumping air into the body. The ears even complain about how cold they are and why were they outside jogging anyway. At that point, the heart says something to the effect that they are jogging for the heart’s benefit because if the heart goes, everything goes. At that point, all body parts go silent and the jog continues.
So it goes with the Federal budget deficit and our skyrocketing national debt.. If we cannot fix our fiscal situation, nothing else matters. Much like the heart, if the financial foundation of our country is destroyed, then nothing else has any importance. You cannot even talk about global warming, a national energy program, improving public schools, fighting drug addiction, defending the country, helping out the needy, creating and maintaining job growth and economic growth, nothing else. If the heart goes, it does not matter how strong your legs are or how much air your lungs can pump. Much like the heart, sound fiscal policy makes everything else possible.