Running our government is a very complicated process. There are always groups tugging and pulling on
the time and efforts of our elected officials. When our personal point of view is different than those doing the majority of the tugging and pulling, we many times refer to the tuggers and pullers as “special interest groups.” As my father used to say, “It depends on whose ox is being gored.” Clearly, Congress and the executive branch have much to consider as they govern. With so many different points of view, and many voices raised in anger, it must be very difficult for our elected folks to cut through the noise and act in ways that represent the will of the people. Defining the “will of the people” is very difficult, I believe. It’s somewhat funny, the old political speech where the politician
talks about how some of his constituents are on the left-hand side of an issue, and his other constituents are on the right-hand side of the issue, and he is very much in support of his constituents. At the end of the day, most of us want our politicians to be more statesmanlike, and less politician-like. That is a hard standard to uphold. Many times, an issue at hand has multiple points of view. Each side may have very valid points and opinions that come from different experiences and beliefs. Sometimes these issues become the “hill they are willing to die on” for some folks. When that happens, our leaders have a sometimes-insurmountable task of figuring out “what is the right thing” in a particular instance. What, it is fair to ask, does this have to do with financial matters? The answer is: Plenty.
In the opening of this column, I’ve given props to our elected leaders as to how difficult it can be to make
decisions and act in ways that represent “the will of the people.” While I believe this to be true, I also believe our elected federal officials have held us all captive during the budget deficit and national debt ceiling debacle. Surely there is a better way to deal with this mess. Things may not be as they appear, but it appears that many of our federal politicians never miss an opportunity to capitalize on a crisis. Not stopping there, they many times never miss an opportunity to create or magnify a crisis. A large part of my personal dislike for the governmental process is the seemingly unending delays in moving forward. This dislike seems to be common among my fellow citizens. Most Americans seem to know that it is hard to reach a fair compromise on many issues. And it seems to grow harder and harder for our elected officials to support a compromise position. Those folks involved in the extreme points of view in most issues these days seem to persecute anyone with a differing point of view or opinion. The press seems to love this free-for-all of extremism. So, it appears that the press and the politicians are both loving that the eyeballs of us Americans are glued to the process of what many politicians would have us believe is the only way out of the mess – which they tell us only they can solve for us. This is where the economic and financial part comes in: They are scaring us. The politicians, aided by the press, are threatening that if we don’t do things their way, we will not get our social security check. Or the military won’t get paid. Or Medicare will not send payments. Okay, so it is complicated. Most of us understand it is complicated. However, scaring us isn’t working like it used to work. Many of us are ignoring the noise and ruffled feathers that appear on TV in the form of politicians and pundits that tell us how bad it is and how bad it will be unless we go along with all the extreme points of view. I say we make sure to tell our federal elected officials that we are tired of all the scare tactics. I say we tell them if they don’t stop trying to bully us, we will send them home next election. After all, we have the vote. Thank goodness the majority of Americans vote with their wallets. We tend to operate under a system that, if we feel fairly secure in our financial lives, we continue to spend money, which fuels our economy. The financial risks of shutting the government down are real. The fact that we weren’t going to do it a few weeks ago was all but a certainty. Why our federal elected officials don’t get ahead of this curve and think more strategically is beyond me. In regards to the budget deficit and the national debt ceiling, shame on both the Congress and the executive branch. These folks who are supposed to be representing us should be smart enough to solve these issues ahead of time. Holding us hostage with their maneuvering and negotiating, right up until the last minute, is ridiculous – and insulting. I hope that in the future we will expect more from our elected federal officials. I also hope that, as consumers, savers, and investors, we continue to have faith in our government and our economic power. That faith is what keeps us moving forward even in the most challenging of times.
-by Ben Smith
Registered Principal, RJFS
313 East 10th Avenue • Bowling Green, KY 42101 • Phone: 270-846-2656
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