Millard Grimes: Economy saved at zero hour

The simple goals of the U.S. government for its people have always been "peace, freedom and prosperity." Obviously there have been serious disagreements over the best way to achieve those goals.

The nation was born in the midst of war when the first Americans demanded a degree of freedom from their colonial ruler, Great Britain, that it was not willing to grant.

War secured that freedom and a nation was created which has become history's crowning achievement, but its citizens are still struggling to find the reasons for its success.

Perhaps the most important reason is that the nation's leaders have always faced the challenges when time presented them and did not give in to the voices of despair and retreat which found fault with going forward and finding a solution.

First, there was the Revolution itself, a seriously daring venture of a scattered group of colonies against the world's strongest nation. The colonies prevailed by luck and pluck, but soon recognized that to succeed they needed unity. The most crucial step toward the great nation that emerged was the willingness of the leaders of the colonies to resolve their differences and create the United States. That unified country became the world power that has assured so much peace and prosperity, not just for its own people, but for people in every corner of the world.

Europe could never do it because its numerous national entities were always quarreling and often fighting. South America, with similar opportunities to those of its northern neighbor, could never do it because of its many divisions and conflicts.

Other strong and ambitious nations have tried to emulate the United States and failed. Small minds always defeat the large ideas, and the U.S. is not immune.

The first bold step toward greatness was the so-called Louisiana Purchase, by which President Thomas Jefferson doubled the geographic size of the U.S. Imagine the cries of opposition to that expenditure of money that would be heard today. The Purchase seemed foolhardy on its face. It paid for miles and miles of undeveloped land with unknown dangers and hostile neighbors.

The sternest test of unity, of course was the Civil War, fought to determine if the United States was one nation or would become like other large government entities and split up, with sections going their own way, first the South, then other states with a grievance against the central government.

The nation survived, by the hardest, to continue on its way to greatness and the leadership of nations seeking similar goals against new tyrannies and the challenges which progress itself created.

But the voices of fear and retreat are still many and powerful. Peace and prosperity still face the powerful enemies that disguise their opposition as frugality and resentment of the future.

This has been true of every move forward, but never have the opportunities been so appealing or the failure to seize them so appalling as they are in 2015.

Science and medicine have brought many of humankind's most enduring enemies within reach of conquest: hunger, disease, shelter, defense against the elements and external dangers.

Meanwhile, the big pie of prosperity has expanded to accommodate billions of people who previously lived in hopelessness, with each faceless day bringing only pain and privation.

I got to thinking about this while watching the U.S. Congress debate whether to raise the national debt ceiling by the smallest increase in nine years.

The alternative included the possible bankruptcy of the richest nation in history; a failure to pay its acknowledged debts; a message to other nations that the one they look to for leadership and stability is itself at the mercy of a small, misguided minority.

During the Obama administration, the national deficit has declined more than in any other period in the nation's history. If it had fallen any more, the economy would be in worse condition.

We actually need to spend more, not less. The fight being waged over the dollars necessary for raising the debt ceiling is a phantom conflict, waged over issues far removed from the national and world financial reality. Deficits are myths, but a powerful myth that preaches defeat and retreat.

Many people simply don't like the U.S. government, they hate taxes, even taxes that benefit them, and they sure don't like taxes that might benefit blacks, Hispanics, and even poor whites.

Sorry, but that's what I gathered from listening to Congress debate the debt ceiling.

But then reason prevailed. The House and the Senate both approved raising the debt ceiling. a budget was adopted on the afternoon of Oct. 30, 2015, not for one but for two years. The United States of America was delivered from economic uncertainty; the markets were reassured; our debts will be honored. The U.S. remains the great nation of history with another zero-hour rescue.

It's an old story but still a scary one.

Millard Grimes, editor of the Columbus Enquirer from 1961-69 and founder of the Phenix Citizen. is author of "The Last Linotype: The Story of Georgia and Its Newspapers Since World War II."

This story was originally published November 2, 2015 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Millard Grimes: Economy saved at zero hour ."