2013: The Year of Living Dangerously

"Recognizing and confronting our history is important. Transcending our history is essential. We are not limited by what we have done, or what we have left undone. We are limited only by what we are willing to do." – George W. Bush

Do you believe that the fiscal cliff has been resolved? Well not so fast. You may want to think again. There’s more to this cliff than what meets the eye. It seems that government has more cliffs to solve. With three more financial crises, there are more frightening times ahead than last year. By the end of February, Congress will encounter another challenge to our debt ceiling; a Sequestration that will be more painful to our economy. Financial analysts are calling it a "suicidal" attempt for our country. If Congress doesn’t increase our debt ceiling by more than 40 percent, our government programs will have to cut spending and will likely put our country back into a recession. It’s disturbing to know that the last attempt at the 2012 fiscal cliff was really nothing more than a band-aide for our country’s problems.

With talks of having a $1 trillion coin or invoking the 14th Amendment as unfavorable options by politicians, there is more a willingness to shut down the government or cover programs on a day-by-day basis. This type of thinking doesn’t give people an increased trust in our government system.
Politicians shouldn’t be taking action on just short-term solutions. It would be wiser to remember that America wasn’t built on temporary thinking, but rather on the long-term goal of achieving more today than what we had yesterday. Instead of lowering our debts, we are being driven towards another year of living dangerously; otherwise known as the year that government shut down.