On the horizon: This is only the first of budget battles to come

Don't look now, but even if the federal government shutdown is resolved this evening, there is more trouble ahead.

You see, this is not the only contentious debate that is scheduled to hit Congress in the next couple of months.

Next on the agenda is deciding what to do about the impending debt ceiling -- raise it and allow the government to continue borrowing or close it and force cuts in government spending to get the budget back in the black.

There will be more arguing, more posturing and more hypocrisy as Americans try to figure out who has what position and which one is the right one.

This question will be a little more clear cut, but nonetheless another time for a partisan divide as both sides try to resolve fundamental differences in fiscal policy.

Here is the bottom line: It is time to start thinking seriously about how to get government spending under control.

The solution cannot be nutty -- there is a certain need for some government activity -- but it must be swift and sure. And that likely means forcing Congress and the president to understand that there just isn't anymore money.

No more fancy this or wasted that. No more extensions of credit. No more using soundbites to avoid essential questions.

We are too far in debt, and it is time to fix it.

In the meantime, we deal with this latest debacle in Washington.

This shutdown is all about partisan politics and a refusal to give ground. It hinges on a rejection of a delay of one year for the mandate for individual citizens that has already been enacted for hundreds of businesses around the country -- and many of the president's political allies.

It is about whom you know, not what is practical and reasonable -- or what is necessary to make sure this health care law functions effectively. It is about party bickering, donor favoritism and ego.

It is not about health care.

This is about politics, pure and simple.

And we are all the pawns.

Perhaps we should remind the Washington glitterati who is really in charge -- before we hit Round 2.

Published in Editorials on October 3, 2013 11:07 AM