One Step Backwards, Two Steps Forwards

             I think all of the negativity of the government is overshadowing the positive work happening in the U.S. economy. Everyone knows of how inconsistent as well as troubling the government spending/debt has been, and according to this article, we're finally taking a step in the right direction. The fiscal debt is 51% less than it was in 2009 - the smallest is has been in the past five years. The article attributes all of the success to a multitude of cutbacks and changes that has resulted in the best (if you can call debts "best") fiscal debt in a long while.
            First off, there were multiple "accross-the-board-budget-cuts" that helped keep the government spending down. The government also introduced higher taxes on higher income families this year and also went through expirations of stimulus packages. One of the biggest helps was the fact that Fannie Mae bailed out the U.S. government and helped the debt stay down.
           Overall, the government spending was 20.8% of the GOP (1.2% less than last year). Hopefully the debt decreases steadily from here as we continue on. I believe we will can do so, but we'd need to co-operate - not  shutdown...again.
           This article reminds me of the section in the economics book we read where it talked about government spending and how Americans look past the excessive spending by the government because it leads to "success". You told us to come up with a question about what we read and my question was "Can the government still be successful without over-spending?". I think the answer is partially yes. This artice shows how we can do positive work when spending less that will help out in the long run. Although it may seem like we're moving backwards, we're still taking two steps forward.