OPINION

Phil Bredesen | Opinion | The Tennessean

Congress can’t do what we here in America do every day — figure out how to pay for what they bought.

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One of the first things we learn in life is the value of a dollar. Families across Tennessee need to balance what they earn with what they spend, and in many households that means having to make sacrifices every day.

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Last week, the puzzling news from Washington was that Congress found itself at an impasse about funding the government and avoiding a shutdown once again.

They can’t accomplish what all of us back here in America do every day — figure out how to pay for what they bought. The worst part? It’s not even their money.

It is only February and the question loomed large again for the second time this year — will they or won’t they pay for the things they’ve already used?

After kicking the can down this road just a few weeks ago, Congress still hasn’t laid out a plan to fix the bigger problems. They just keep spending.

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I learned in the business world that if you want to manage successfully, you’ve got to have a clear set of targets and a way to measure against those standards.

We are not doing that with our country’s budget: there are no standards for how much we should be spending. Instead, it is a free-for-all.

In fact, this year the U.S. government is set to borrow nearly $1 trillion, which is an 84 percent jump from last year.

For those keeping score back home here in Tennessee, our national debt is upward of $20 trillion dollars, and there is no sign of stopping. The President didn’t even mention it during his State of the Union address last week.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

In Tennessee, we have very strong requirements to balance our budgets. As governor of the state, I believed that it was not just good practice, but a fundamental responsibility to be a good steward of our taxpayers’ money.

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January political cartoons from the USA TODAY Network

Despite the Great Recession, we submitted and passed eight balanced budgets with no income tax, no increase in the sales tax, and no financial gimmicks.

We can have careful fiscal management in government. Sometimes, we have to make hard choices. But Tennessee families do that day in and day out without closing up shop, skirting their responsibilities or just generally pouting and sitting on their hands.

Congress needs to get back to basics, and there are few things more basic for our well-paid Congress to do than to pass a budget and keep our country’s doors open.

Submitted

You don’t shut down the government of the world’s leading democracy just because you disagree on policy — you’ve still got to pay your bills.

There is common ground for getting things done and paying our bills and Tennessee is a testament of that.

The drama in Washington reminds us back here in Tennessee that we need change in Congress, and we have a chance to do that on Nov. 6.

I will be making that case in all corners of the state as I apply for the job of U.S. senator for the people of Tennessee.

Philip (Phil) Bredesen is a businessman and entrepreneur running for the U.S. Senate seat for Tennessee being vacated by Sen. Bob Corker. Bredesen served two terms as Tennessee’s 48th governor (2003—2011). He was mayor of Nashville from 1991 to 1999. Prior to that, he was the CEO of a public health care company.