COMMENTARY | Former New Mexico governor and current GOP presidential candidate Gary Johnson is known for breaking with his party and saying things that some would consider outlandish. But the typically popular Republican, among Democrats, may have overstepped his likability bounds regarding the U.S. debt ceiling.
Johnson's take, according to the Daily Caller, is that the U.S. has a financial problem that will not be increased by increasing the national debt, and that we should not raise the debt ceiling, because "pain today beats economic collapse tomorrow."
I'm a liberal who if given the choice between voting for President Obama and Gary Johnson, would (at this moment in time) choose Johnson in a heartbeat, without hesitation. However on this issue, the former governor and I disagree. While theoretically such tough talk sounds good on a campaign trail to budget hawks rightfully scared about our national debt, the reality is that the pain he and Republicans are suggesting would be felt by our most vulnerable citizens, such as seniors dependent on Social Security for survival.
They're already in pain and to hurt them further by failing to meet our obligations to them to fulfill the promises we've made them would be inexcusable. I agree with the principle that short term pain is acceptable when looking toward long term gain, but we must temper that notion by a recognition of who will feel that pain.
There can be no caring or responsible recommendation that results in the United States defaulting on its promises. So if there is pain to be had, let it befall those who are unaccustomed to pain rather than those who continually feel its unfailing pinch.
Bill Clinton balanced the budget. It can be done. Perhaps rather than discussing debt ceilings, it's time to discuss morality floors in conjunction with deficit ceilings. When we err on the side of helping those most in need, while at the same time raising the revenues necessary to do so in such a way as to maintain strong fiscal discipline, there can be no question that higher taxation on those who can afford it, has to be taken into consideration.
Higher taxes hurt nearly everybody a little bit, but budgets that don't take into account the morality of caring for our most vulnerable and troubled citizens result in hurting those who can least afford it, to the point of human breakage. May we never be the nation who only looks to what is fiscally sound in the appropriation of money, to the exclusion of what is morally sound. We're better than that, and if he thinks a little longer on it, I'm betting that so too is Gary Johnson.
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