America Heals Our Complexes

Polish politicians and publicists often say: In other countries it would be unthinkable. In this way they suggest that our standards concerning the public sphere are lower than anywhere else. The fuss about the debt that has been continuing for months in the U.S. should heal our complexes.

In the United States, unlike in Poland and the majority of European countries, the Congress passes the budget and establishes the acceptable debt ceiling separately. In the past, when the budgets were balanced and the country contracting a debt was a unique event, the American budget procedures made sense.

But today they are a peculiarity, making the lives of American presidents difficult. Especially when they do not have the support of both chambers of Congress, as the opposing congressmen can block the government administrative actions in two ways — first by passing the budget and again by establishing the acceptable debt ceiling.

In Poland, when the opposition idly blocks the government’s work just to make their life difficult without suggesting any sensible solutions, then immediately the others start saying that no one can act like this, that this is playing with the country’s interest, that such an attitude discredits Poland in the eyes of other countries and foreign investors.

America doesn’t have complexes, so the congressmen of both parties drag the rope and don’t care about the interest of the country. The Republicans, being in opposition to President Barack Obama, won’t agree to raise the debt ceiling unless the Democrats fulfill their conditions. Their most far-reaching postulate is to include a ban on passing an unbalanced budget in the Constitution.

Sensible on the surface, but in the 1990s when the Republicans had a majority in both houses, they passed this rule. It didn’t come into force because it was suppressed by President Clinton. But it was the Democratic president who balanced the finances and reduced the public debt, and his Republican successor led to the re-explosion of the debt.

Since 2001, it rose from $5.8 trillion to the current level of $14.2 trillion.

Almost all congressmen — and especially the American Republicans — claim that they meticulously take care of taxpayers’ money. But in the last 10 years, they voted for the majority of the laws whose consequence is the current debt. Cutting taxes in the years 2001-2003, during Bush’s term of office, gave $1.7 trillion of debt over the decade.

Extending these provisions for another two years by Barack Obama has cost $860 billion. The war in Iraq has increased the spending by $806 billion and in Afghanistan, by $444 billion.

The provisions concerning the refund of the medicines by the Medicare system introduced in 2003 (dealing with medical care for the elderly) cost $369 billion and rescuing the banks in 2008 — $700 billion.

The Democrats also have on their conscience inflating the spending — they voted for the majority of the laws that are the cause of the current budgetary situation of America, and many of them are reluctant to agree to any compromise with the Republicans, being more worried about their own electoral interests than about the situation of the state. As a result, the United States — still the most powerful economy in the world and the only superpower today — is sinking into the absurd political pushing and shoving.

The result of this tug-of-war is the threat of lower ratings, the weakening dollar and the nervousness of investors. The administration of the president, instead of dealing with serious matters or at least going on vacation, for weeks has been absorbed in finding a compromise with the Republicans and inventing ways to circumvent the provisions of the debt ceiling.

In Poland it would be unthinkable. Our process of passing the budget is much simpler than in the United States and thus less politicized. The government hosts the draft budget, and the opposition can accept it or reject it. But it cannot spoil it. The members of the Polish Sejm cannot present their own proposals for expenditure, and the debt limit is part of the Budget Act and is adopted with it.

If our opposition blocked the work of the government, I would write comments on the first page myself: You cannot play with the interest of the country, the foreign countries watch us, elsewhere it would be unthinkable. Of course I would exaggerate. Even worse things are thinkable in the world.