JACKSON — Hey, all you politicians, both state and federal. How about making an honest effort to find common ground with each other? That’s what true patriots who honor the U.S. Constitution are supposed to do.
Uh-huh. That’s right. Our Constitution created a unique form of government that depends upon political opponents being able to find common ground. Dying in the ditch to get your way may be politically popular, but such behavior aligns more with tyranny than liberty.
As it often does, the Bible gives us guidance on this: “Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly” (Proverbs 16:22).
In times of crisis we need our state and federal governments to function with good sense. So, risking a federal government shutdown last week made no sense whatsoever; nor does state government hoarding federal COVID-19 relief money.
Even less sensible is the bickering over the national debt and risking a U.S. government default — potentially cutting off payments for all sorts during this time of crisis.
A little recent history. Under President Donald Trump, when Republicans had majority control of government, tax cuts and unfunded spending created a lasting $1 trillion annual deficit. Then came COVID-19 and its enormous costs. Republicans with Democrat help suspended the debt limit allowing a nearly $8 trillion increase in the national debt under Trump.
Once Democrat Joe Biden became president, Republican concern about the debt suddenly reappeared. Using the same single-party process Republicans used to pass Trump’s tax cuts, Democrats passed Biden’s $1.9 trillion follow-up COVID-19 relief bill. Though it got zero Republican votes, many of those Republicans went around touting different aspects of the bill — including some of ours.
This plus the $1 trillion a year deficit Trump left for Biden now require new action on the debt limit as the current suspension expires. According to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who pushed through the earlier suspension, no Senate Republican will support any debt limit increase, though Democrats helped him with the earlier suspension. He and his colleagues take this stance despite their role in creating that $1 trillion annual operating deficit.
Now, McConnell knows the pending bipartisan, and much needed, $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and the pending over-the-top $3.5 trillion Democratic package of freebies have nothing to do with the current debt limit crisis, but he uses those to justify the Republican intransigence.
Good sense says failure to lift the debt limit to pay current obligations makes no sense for either party.
Mississippi got $1.8 billion from Biden’s COVID-19 relief bill. As reported by Mississippi Today, most of that money is just sitting in the state treasury. Despite lingering health and related issues from COVID-19 and pleas to begin utilizing the money, Gov. Tate Reeves and most other Republicans in control of state government seem happy to just hold on to the money. Only Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann has come forward with proposals to put some of this money to work.
Good sense says hoarding these funds makes no sense.
A little patriotic effort to seek common ground would easily resolve these issues. Instead we get just seem to get pathetic effort.
- Bill Crawford, of Jackson, is a Republican former state lawmaker.
