Wouldn’t it be nice to have politicians who make fiscally responsible decisions while in office instead of basing their decisions on ways to get re-elected? Several years ago I was watching the CBS News program “60 Minutes.” A segment of the program was about Illinois politicians who voted for a costly government retirement program that would not affect them while in office, but would have a major influence on future budgets and create heavy costs on future generations.

It becomes exceedingly concerning that our federal deficit continues to grow, especially when we consider the future of our children and grandchildren. Estimates now show that our annual shortfall will reach in excess of $1.4 trillion. That totals more than $4,700 for every man, woman and child in the United States. The deficit is now more than three times the highest amount ever amassed in a single year.

Unless our government begins to make hard decisions to reduce spending, the economic crisis could grow even larger than we have today. If we continue to accumulate more debt, as anticipated in the coming years, we leave ourselves vulnerable to outside influences that will have major affects on the future of our nation and coming generations. Forecasts for more red ink will continue just to pay the interest on the debt. The government paid approximately $190 billion in interest over the last 12 months, it could have been much greater but we are in a period of low interest rates.

I think we would all agree that health care reform is essential so it can be affordable to everyone, the status quo is unacceptable. Where many differ is the approach to achieving that goal. The additional cost of the bill the House passed would create debt that will break America. A government-operated program would add further to our budget issues, simply to monitor the programs. Past practices with other programs have shown that the government has a poor history in financial management.

This is especially true when politicians look short term to secure votes and resist making good long-term decisions that are the best for the country. Many seem not to care since they will be out of office before we feel the ramifications of their decisions. It is important that our politicians take a fiscally realistic look on the true costs to Americans because estimates show the actual cost of the bill to increase the cost of care by over $1 trillion.

Looking long term, we must also remember that Social Security problems are slowly approaching as millions of baby boomers approach retirement. The program’s annual cash surplus will shrink and then disappear because there will not be enough funds to pay full benefits from its payroll and other tax revenues.

To continue the program, our government will need to consume ever-growing amounts of general revenue dollars to meet its obligations. Experts estimate that Social Security begins to spend more on paying benefits than it receives in taxes in 2018 or 2019. Eventually, either benefits will have to be slashed or the rest of the government will have to shrink to accommodate Social Security.

The time is now to stop government spending money that we don’t have and that will require our children and grandchildren to pay off. They may be faced with the choice of paying retirement benefits to their parents or paying for programs that help their own children. We can’t keep on mortgaging our children’s future. There is no better time to stop spending than now.

Ken Petersen is a co-chairman of the Freeborn County Republican Party.