Failure to budget isn't governing at all

To the editor:

Lee Hamilton stated that great democracies do not fund government on a week-to-week basis. In reality, great democracies do not negate their responsibility to write a balanced budget.

Nevertheless, from 2009 through 2012, the Democrat-controlled Senate failed to pass a single budget. During that four-year time frame, our federal debt increased from $10.6 trillion to $16.7 trillion. As if that wasn't bad enough, under President Obama's leadership, our debt has mushroomed to a total of $18.1 trillion.

Increasing our national debt by $7.5 trillion in a mere six years not only places a severe strain on our finances, but it also obligates our children and grandchildren to repay a mountain of debt.

After the November 2008 election, president-elect, Obama pledged that his Office of Management and Budget (OMB) "will go through our federal budget -- page by page, line by line -- eliminating those programs we don't need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." Obviously that did not happen, and our national debt has now reached crisis level.

Given the fact that the Democrat-controlled Congress and White House have been totally inept at managing our country's finances, perhaps it might actually be beneficial to "fund government on a week to week basis."

Ultimately, Congress holds the power of the purse, and since Obama has failed to fulfill his promise, they must closely monitor the national budget even if it requires oversight on a weekly basis. Since, we now have a Republican-controlled Congress which was seated in January, perhaps we will finally see some financial restraint. Hope springs eternal.

Sally Sidman

Clay County