Time to pick up after ourselves

My daughter doesn’t care much for politics yet. She bangs her spoon during debates, pours water over the side of the tub during speeches and joyfully shreds campaign mailers without reading them.

She’s too busy making a mess to know about the problems outside our house. She’s too young to know what year it is, never mind grasp the instability of the economy, the collapse of consumer confidence or the burgeoning national debt.

I’d like to keep it that way.

I’d like this to be the year the adults started cleaning up their own mess, rather than leaving it for the kids.

This Election Day, the United States is staggering toward a recession. The federal government continues to fumble for an effective response, alternating among rich uncle, distant father and guilty parent. The $700 billion bailout pushed by the Bush administration and passed by Congress didn’t solve the lending crisis. Last week’s rate cut by the Federal Reserve didn’t make much of a dent, either.

Next, the Treasury will try a $40 billion program to rescue individual homeowners at risk of foreclosure. It will be tricky to help true victims of the housing crisis without mainly rewarding those who bought and borrowed irresponsibly.

On top of that, Congress may pass yet another stimulus package, mailing a new round of rebate checks to citizens. The short-term stimulus does little to boost the economy, and the tab goes to the next generation. Yet Congress members want to show their concern, and what faster way than handing constituents a special allowance?

Honestly, it’s embarrassing.

You can see the pickle we’re in. Once the government begins treating citizens and businesses like children, it’s hard to stop. Once politicians start promising tax cuts and more spending, plus shoulder rubs, it’s hard for voters to restrain their own expectations.

Meanwhile, the national debt stands at $10.5 trillion and counting. The federal budget deficit will exceed $500 billion next year. And there’s no real plan to pay for the Medicare expenses of baby boomers and their elderly parents, other than to send the bill to the grandkids.

I always thought of Americans as more self-sufficient than this. Yet here we are. We can’t just blame the Bush administration for its lopsided tax cuts and reckless spending, or Wall Street investors for their greed. It’s us, too, wanting the pony without the stall.

I’m not sure how we’ll extract ourselves. But whether Sen. John McCain or Sen. Barack Obama wins, the next president and Congress need to spend most of their time on long-term solutions – on fixing health care, rebuilding bridges and railways, climbing out of debt, making sure the United States is a place where people and businesses can thrive without government help.

Rebate checks won’t cut it. Neither will hastily chosen Christmas gifts from an anxious Uncle Sam.

I think a lot about cleaning up messes, perhaps because my house is under siege by a toddler. She pulls books out of the bookshelves. She empties the kitchen cupboards of their contents. When she enters a room, she sets off a tiny explosion of plastic blocks and stuffed animals.

My husband and I pick up her clutter, sweeping the surfaces like tired Zamboni drivers. The chore is bearable only because we love her, and because making messes is a big part of how kids learn.

Slowly, she’s learning how to clean up after herself.

The big question is whether her generation will get stuck cleaning up after everyone else.