Despite Debt-Ceiling Fiasco, Missouri Plays It Safe

Patch is pleased to partner with Brian R. Hook, editor and investigative reporter for Missouri Watchdog, a news website dedicated to investigative journalism about local, state and federal government across Missouri. We've invited Hook to contribute a weekly column that describes what he's watching and why it's important for Missouri taxpayers.

Last week in this column, I complained about the debt-ceiling debate playing out in Washington, D.C., . But instead of a single round, every chamber in the revolver had a bullet.

This week, I’m tired of watching political pundits talk about who won and lost.

Economically, we all lost. No one won. And we are all now living with the consequences.

Clearly the global financial markets are unhappy, and I fear it may get worse.

Two of the three major credit rating agencies may have capitulated, but Standard & Poor’s may still downgrade the AAA credit rating that the U.S. holds. And, as I have said before, credit ratings matter.

Everything is financially linked.

As the debate unfolded last weekend, I expressed my displeasure on Twitter and Facebook.

“No losers, no winners in debt default debate… Only shame,” I posted.

“We all lost in a political game of chicken that should have never been played.”

I stand by this statement. I don’t care whether a politician voted yes or no. I still contend it was an irresponsible political debate that should have never happened. Pay your bills, then repair your credit rating.

With regard to politicians, I don’t want to exclude anyone.

Everyone elected for a federal position should be held accountable.

The best quote describing the deal, however, comes from Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-MO).

The Democrat from Kansas City referred to it as  ”a sugar-coated Satan sandwich”

While I may not agree with his political reasoning, I agree that it is a bad deal economically.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon was peppered with questions regarding the national debate when he stopped in Chesterfield on Thursday. He tried to avoid the questions, saying he wanted to focus on Missouri.

There’s not much the state Democrat can do about it anyway. The state is already living with fewer federal funds. Plus, the state’s budget director has instructed department heads not to expect more funding for fiscal 2013.

And if I may say so, Missouri has been acting in a fairly reasonable, fiscally responsible manner.

As Missouri Watchdog has reported numerous times, for only the third time in 30 years, the state plans to spend less money this fiscal year than last year, reducing total spending by 2.1 percent year over year.

Republicans and Democrats don’t get along in Missouri, either. But maybe the rest of the nation should take a political lesson from the Show-Me State. While we may squabble, we don’t put our AAA credit rating at risk.

For news updates, sign up for a newsletter and follow Missouri Watchdog on Twitter and Facebook. Brian R. Hook may be reached by phone at 314-482-7944 or by email at brhook@missouriwatchdog.org.