I was asked this week to pen an op-ed for FoxNews.com (seriously) about the looming crisis surrounding the debt ceiling debate in Washington. Check it out.
I was asked this week to pen an op-ed for FoxNews.com (seriously) about the looming crisis surrounding the debt ceiling debate in Washington. Check it out.
Opinion
Lawmakers Need to Stop Manufacturing a Crisis and Hash Out a Debt Plan
By Mark Price
Published July 28, 2011 | FoxNews.com
Does the circus surrounding the debt ceiling debate in Washington suggest that America’s greatness is at stake?
Hardly! Ours is a short but rich history of scoundrels and heroes, of great failure and great success. It would take a lot more than a debt crisis to fundamentally change who we are.
But make no mistake: A debt crisis is bad news across the board, with repercussions ranging from closed national parks at the height of summer vacation season to a market crash and government shutdown that could plunge us back into recession and double-digit unemployment.
At the heart of the debate is the question of sweeping deficit reduction. Conditioning the debt-ceiling vote on deficit reduction is the national equivalent of going clubbing with a handgun tucked in the waistband of your sweatpants (with apologies to former wide receiver Plaxico Burress). You might shoot yourself in the foot, but it’s all about the image you cast and the friends you want to impress.
Which is to say we are about to doom millions of middle-class Americans to several more years of underemployment — not because we have to, but because factions of both political parties have decided the risks of defaulting on our debt are less important than appealing to key voting blocs in the next election.
Read the full op-ed here.