

There will be no showdown over the debt ceiling � at least not until 2015. Enough Republicans in the House of Representatives joined every House Democrat in raising the debt limit and giving the Treasury Department free rein, for at least 13 months, to borrow money that it can�t pay back.



The vote seems to have put a spring back into Washington�s step. Republicans can�t bring the government to a grinding halt by arguing for fiscal responsibility. What a relief. Congressmen and bureaucrats can now devote their energy to developing more programs that spend money that the federal government can�t pay back at an even higher rate.



It�s enough to make President Barack Obama�s administration brag that the deficit has come all the way down to half a trillion dollars this year. Woo hoo. Now that�s real cause for joy. We�re going to hell in a handbasket only half as fast as we were or thought we would be.



It�s hard to blame the 28 Republicans who didn�t want to go back to the debt-ceiling salt mines. It�s not like they�ll get any good press for trying to get government spending under control. Most of the ink and air time will be reserved for stories about the hardships that cutting off the flow of government money creates.



It�s one heck of a lot easier to kick the can down the road and deal with it later. The problem is that there will come a day, and it�s approaching faster and faster, that the can will hit a wall and stop or perhaps even ricochet back.



It might not seem like it today, but money is a finite commodity. The United States will eventually reach a point where it can no longer borrow money that it can�t repay. At that point, the people who rely on government assistance really will have a problem.



All of the rest of us will, too. Contrary to popular opinion these days, government isn�t merely a gigantic nonprofit charity that distributes money to feel-good programs that help people who in some way qualify to be considered less fortunate.



Government also provides for the common defense and redistributes funds for an infrastructure that keeps the wheels of commerce turning. As frustrating and inefficient as it seems, it is entirely necessary.



Smaller government would be better; but governments must have money to function.



Congress can keep putting off arguments over deficits and debt. The news media can continue to characterize all attempts to address the problem as mean-spirited efforts to create hardships for people who rely on assistance. But we can�t run from the problem forever.



The deficits this country continue to pile up year after year are unsustainable. If we continue, like Scarlett O�Hara in �Gone with the Wind,� to �think about that tomorrow,� then some tomorrow is going to turn into a real problem for all of us.



A version of this editorial first appeared in the TuscaloosaNews, a Halifax Media Group newspaper in Alabama.

