Light at end of the U.S. debt tunnel

Twenty is the magic number.

Can you see the connection?

Congressional approval ratings are hovering around 20 percent. And they’re headed toward the basement rather than the ceiling.

The national debt is now an astonishing $20 trillion — and also going the wrong way. Congress bears a hefty portion of the blame because with the president, they’re the budget setters for our nation.

Here’s how a press release from U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican, put the burden of that big beast:

“Our national debt has grown nearly $10 trillion in 10 years and the federal government, unfortunately, has no plan on how or when to pay it down. Each dollar added to our debt is a dollar lost from critical investments in American roads, bridges, healthcare, schools, and other essential services. This pattern of reckless, uncontrolled spending threatens the future of our country and ensures our children and grandchildren have a bleak financial future. Congress must cut spending and recognize that we do not have a no-limit credit card to fund everything everyone wants. Like hard-working Idahoans, the federal government must prioritize, budget, and say no to things that are not absolute essentials. We have to get our fiscal house in order before it’s too late. In daily terms, the U.S. adds over $1.5 BILLION to its debt EVERY DAY!”

That’s a little like a player blaming the rest of his team for a loss. As a distinguished member of Congress, Sen. Risch needs to shoulder 1/535th of the blame.

But so should we all.

Risch is right that Congress needs to get better at saying no to non-essentials, and citizens need to stop asking for all but the essentials. However, to get a grip on our out-of-control spending, the sorest of subjects is going to have to be confronted. It’s health care.

According to federal-budget.insidegov.com, spending is going up in most major budget categories compared to a long-term average.

Spending on Social Security, unemployment and labor is estimated to consume 36 percent of the budget in fiscal year 2017; the average proportion is 35 percent.

Spending on national defense is estimated at 15 percent of outlays; a significant drop from the average of 22 percent of the budget.

The fourth leading category of spending, shamefully, is interest on the national debt. It’s projected to be about 7 percent of the budget, which is a percentage point lower than average.

But it’s the second biggest spending column that’s most alarming. Medicare and general health is estimated to comprise about 28 percent of federal spending. That’s double the long-term average.

Do we have the courage and temperament to fix what’s wrong with Obamacare and the rest of our health care system?

We believe so after seeing encouraging signs from President Trump. The fact that he recently reached across the aisle to work with Democrats on the debt ceiling and dined with Dems to talk about a tax plan may have set off alarms in the right wing, but it marks a very powerful precedent for the kind of cooperation that’s going to be needed to get federal spending under control.

Reset the nation’s health care agenda and our fiscal health can begin to recover, too.