Why do Democrats and Republicans put partisanship and politics ahead of solving the budgetary crisis?

The federal government cannot possibly pay all of its long term obligations. Even if we abolished all government programs except for Social Security and Medicare, we still wouldn't have enough money to pay those obligations. In the past, politicians have promised enormous amounts of money to seniors that they cannot possibly repay and now almost all politicians regardless of party grandstand and try to score political points by saying that they will obstruct any effort to fix the entitlement crisis by cutting Social Security and Medicare. Even if we adopted a 100% open borders immigration policy and even if the government took all steps possible to increase the birth rate drastically in the near future, I doubt they would be able to increase the population sufficiently to be able to afford these programs as currently constituted. However, if politicians were to take those steps today, they could minimize the amount of cuts to Social Security and Medicare that will be necessary. Yet, they continue to play politics. All efforts to increase immigration have failed due to politicians preferring to pander to nativists and politicians continue to promote policies that encourage the ongoing global decline in birth rates (as they don't want to stand up to the feminist and environmental groups that oppose population growth).



If we continue on our current course, the interest on the national debt alone will soon be over 100% of our nation's GDP (this should happen within 20-30 years). The government has promised far more than it can deliver and yet politicians continue to promise even more. The 111th Congress created a massive new entitlement program even though we cannot afford our existing entitlement programs. The current Congress promises to repeal this entitlement program, but this is likely to fail due to an obstructionist president and an obstructionist Senate. Again, politicians are playing partisan politics while our country heads toward bankruptcy.



Many people pretend that these problems can be solved by just taxing the wealthy. Yet, this is impossible. Even assuming that a slight increase in tax rates would increase tax revenues rather than decrease them, a slight increase would still be insufficient. Bill Gates reportedly has over $200 billion in wealth, but that is only enough to pay for a quarter of a Stimulus package. The entire GDP of the United States is about $14 trillion dollars. So is the national debt. Unfunded liabilities are more than twice the total net worth of the American people!



The government could default on the national debt, but that won't happen as nobody would ever lend them money again (actually, that is probably way too optimistic, as the Spanish Empire defaulted repeatedly on its debts, but continued to find suckers willing to "lend" them more money). Instead, the government will likely use the printing press to default on its debts and obligations. When a country tries to monetize its debts, the result is called hyperinflation. This is what happened in Germany during the 1920s (when the Germans were stuck with a debt that couldn't afford to repay by the Versailles Treaty). If this is the path we go down, the result will be catastrophic.



We are told that our current system of a democratic mixed economy and our status as a superpower and the world's policeman is the best possible system. We are told that this system can sustain itself and will not fall. Yet, the math doesn't add up. If this system was so great, wouldn't our leaders recognize that they have promised far more than they can possibly deliver? Wouldn't they be informing the people that they cannot keep their promises and that they need to greatly reduce the scale of their operations? Instead, of course, they continue to promise even more and refuse to cut entitlement programs that we can't afford. Instead, they refuse to do anything to fix the demographic crisis to reduce the amount that they need to cut. Instead, they choose to play partisan politics while the United States of America declines and falls.Why do Democrats and Republicans put partisanship and politics ahead of solving the budgetary crisis?ZzzzzzzzzzzzzzWhy do Democrats and Republicans put partisanship and politics ahead of solving the budgetary crisis?Job security, if the other party fixes the problems, they lose their cushy jobs.Why do Democrats and Republicans put partisanship and politics ahead of solving the budgetary crisis?First off, the GDP is the total value of the good made in one year, so by your calculations if we took all the net-worth of the U.S. economy we would have the debt paid off in 2 years time. Obviously this is not possible, because a 100% tax rate would kill the economy for good!!! I think that we need to cut EVERYTHING, but the problem is that the current parties don't agree with this. The repubs. want to spend hundreds of billions policing the world, and the dems want to spend all kinds of cash on healthcare, welfare, and almost everything else. I think that you should look into Ron Paul, he will be the biggest budget cutter this country will ever see.Why do Democrats and Republicans put partisanship and politics ahead of solving the budgetary crisis?
You're glossing over a crucial detail: this is a Democracy.



If this was an autocracy, sure. I'd say "what you guys waiting for!" But the problem is that this is a Democracy. And if the American people don't want it to get done, aren't willing to sacrifice... nothing is going to happen.



The fundamental unit of power is the individual; the block of power is the public. If the public doesn't do anything, if the public is disengaged, if the public resorts to making politics a spectator sport with no active participation (which is what has been happening according to the statistics), then expect nothing to get done.