12-Steps For Government Shop-A-Holics

From the playbook of Alcoholic's Anonymous...
the only way to stop excess spending is to just stop <period>

Sounds simple, right?

It should be that simple unless the people who are over-spending have become hooked on spending money.

Controversial FOX Radio and TV host Glenn Beck inspired this article. Not so much because he is a recovered alcoholic. Rather, that he has taken a bold stand in trying to identify what is behind the unprecedented shift in the way national government is conducting both itself and the affairs of the nation. And has candidly murmured that he feels people who are practicing a  recovery program can help the recovering nation in some way.

In the rooms of AA, it is common to hear that 1 drink is too many and 1,000 are not enough. In the halls of Congress, it is common to hear that $1Billion is too much and $1Trillion is not enough.

Sounds about the same, doesn't it?

Yesterday's breathtaking AP news report titled "2009 federal deficit surges to $1.42 trillion"  includes another mind boggling CBO projection:

"The Congressional Budget Office projects that the nation's debt held by investors both at home and abroad will increase by $9.1 trillion over the next decade, pushing the total to $17.1 trillion (by 2019) under Obama's spending plans."

As the National Debt Clock keeps chalking up bigger and bigger deficit numbers, it doesn't take an economist to figure out that something is terribly wrong. Or to notice that the U. S. Congress and the White House are indulging in a free-for-all spending spree with no end in sight while the Treasury is still churning out new currency because there are no cash reserves to draw upon. Even before adding proposed big dollar programs like the $2 Trillion price tag on health care,  the debt meter rolls on adding a few more billion here and few more billion there - calculating expenditures for things we can't even afford today, much less in another year or two.

Continuous spending without restraint is commonly called a shop-a-holic binge. Something anyone who has been through a 12 Step Recovery Program knows is a sure symptom of reckless, if not dangerous, behavior. Conduct that is not much different from how untreated addicts or alcoholics behave. Getting the fix - regardless of economic or human cost - is far more important than anything else in life. The problems get bigger and worse as time goes by. Lying, cheating, hiding, and stealing become a way of life. Eventually, the shop-a-holic or gambling addict will go bankrupt. The drug addict or alcoholic will experience something catastrophic or life threatening.

Regardless of which addiction expresses itself, the storm path of increasing destruction and misery is all the same. And no one in the path of an out-of-control binge is immune from the wreckage. Without corrective action, families, businesses, corporations, and yes -- even governments are at grave risk and can be devastated.

Those in recovery know the stages of addiction and the needed curative steps because they have lived them. AA founder Bill Wilson said:

"The alcoholic is like a tornado roaring his way through the lives of others. Hearts are broken. Sweet relationships are dead. Affections have been uprooted. Selfish and inconsiderate habits have kept the home in turmoil."

And:

"the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn't think so."

Add the river of denials that have been flowing from the lips of those who are pushing and riding the federal spending train into the observation and it becomes crystal clear why people in recovery can't help but see the exact same downward spiral that happens when the average person who becomes hooked on gambling or shopping, drugs or alcohol.

In this case, the nation is in turmoil. Turmoil that can only grow worse until the spending stops and sane discussion about how to resolve the nation's problems comes to the fore.

The President's job approval rating has dropped to 49% to 51% (depending upon which poll you read) while Congress's approval rating stands at 24%. Numbers like these cannot be ignored.

When 76% of voters cannot approve the job performance by those who are responsible for how national funds are used, then hearts are truly broken. Sweet relationships are dying, if not already dead. And all the while, Congress and the White House are pushing for costly health care changes and muttering about more bail-outs, more ear marks, more...more ... more. The entire scenario is surreal.

Bill Wilson is right. The tornado is, indeed, roaring its way through the lives of others. 305,000,000 others!  All of whom now have an equal share of the U. S. National Debt to the tune of $38,730.00 and rising.

Government over-spending could be stopped in its tracks and ultimately cured. But like any addiction, stopping the progressive destruction and reaching a cure requires certain radical changes. The first is admitting that there is a problem.

Yes there is a way out. Even a government can stop its excesses. A budget can be balanced. It's not easy. But it can be done. Millions of people worldwide have recovered from far worse indulgences than uncontrolled spending. But to do so, each and every one had to stop tap dancing around the problem with denials and accept a helping hand.

Sadly, the White House and Congressional leaders appear to be in an entrenched state of denial. This means things will probably get much worse before they can improve. Almost every day, some news news media reports yet another attack on the many messengers who are coming forward to protest or challenge the way the nation is currently being governed.  Some are labeled racists. Others are called liars. Some are laughed at. Others are scolded. Many are treated with disdain. And some, like FOX News, are labeled the enemy.

In a "it takes one to know one" way, anyone who has ever been in denial about anything knows what this type of reaction means.  It is the same abuse "those in the know" hurled at anyone who dared question their own destructive behavior before they agreed to earnest corrective measures. If you have ever witnessed a substance abuse "intervention" or confronted someone about problematic excesses, then slurs and adversarial posturing are not shocking in the context of addiction. Yet in the context of governing a nation, such behavior is about as mind boggling as the latest $17 Trillion estimate in the CBO report until one remembers that the nation is now being governed by over-spenders - a/k/a shop-a-holics.

Too bad there isn't rehab for politicians. And that voters have to wait until 2010 to elect some replacements.  It's a long shot to think that political enablers will suddenly stop enabling each other. Or that those in denial will miraculously find 'ears to hear'.  But one can hope. In the rooms of AA, there is always hope.  May it be so in the nation as well.