Promote compromise, write to and pray for our leaders in Washington

It’s well known that the U. S. faces a major budget crisis in the next few weeks that is causing intense conflict between the Republicans and the Democrats in the Congress, also involving the president and his team in the White House. Deficit spending will reach the limit presently allowable under federal law on or about Aug. 2. The nation will then be technically bankrupt if the Congress has not enacted some mixture of cost cutting, tax increases, and/or increasing the statutory debt limit.

If you’re ready for the ugly truth about that controversy, dig the July 1 Vindicator out of your recycling bin and turn to the editorial page (A-12). The political cartoon at the top sets the stage. It shows an elephant (presumably the Republican kind) cowering before a little mouse labeled “compromise.” Yep, that’s the GOP Congressional leadership, ready to plunge our nation into fiscal disaster instead of working with the Democrats to find a common-sense path out of our current mess.

As the Vindicator editorial that day makes painfully clear, Republican insistence on “No new taxes” has become almost a religious mandate, a simple but dangerous demand that stands in the way of reasonable negotiation between the two parties and the two branches of government. Nonpartisan experts agree that any viable outcome will require some selective tax increases, or at the very least closing some costly tax loopholes. The Republicans will find it increasingly painful to back down from their rigid stance as the deadline approaches, and they may not be able to move beyond continuing deadlock. The possible catastrophic consequences of that outcome are well addressed in a piece by Trudy Rubin titled “GOP’s stand on debt is dangerous” that appeared on the Vindicator editorial page on July 4.

A solution that will meet our nation’s long-term needs will be complicated and require much honest negotiation. It must prevent fiscal collapse in the short term, and allow for the growth and aging of our population over time. It must provide adequate funding for national defense, deterrence of global warming, first-rate education for all of our people, adequate health care without frills or excessive waste, and other ongoing needs. None of this will be accomplished quickly or easily.

What can we ordinary citizens do about this situation? Mostly, let our elected representatives know that we care and are watching. Sen. Sherrrod Brown “gets it” and will remain a voice of reason. Sen. Rob Portman has been reluctant to break ranks with his fellow Republicans and work for the common good, but perhaps he will change as the crisis deepens. U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan is a grownup who will do what’s best for the country without being prodded. U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson has been in lockstep with the “Tea Party” folks, but it won’t hurt for residents of his district (south of Midlothian Boulevard, more or less) to make their views known.

People of faith may want to pray that our leaders will somehow find the wisdom and motivation to move beyond the present turmoil and put our nation back on the right path.

Robert D. Gillette, Poland