April 30, 2003 - The other day a woman came to see me to discuss the prospects of divorcing her husband. Divorce is not always the answer to a troubled marriage so I asked some questions about the relationship. “It is his irresponsibility”, she told me, “He just won’t face facts. The other day he came home and announced that he was ‘tired’ of being the one of the working poor and he wanted to cut down to a part-time job. She was incensed since his reduced income would not cover their monthly bills. They had been maintaining their lifestyle with credit cards and had gotten deeply in a hole. She had always been able to handle it, she said, before. When one card was maxed out she simply applied for a new one and kept the ball rolling. Now the debt had grown so large that they could not handle it any more. She had just been turned down for a new Visa. She simply couldn’t handle him wanting to cut their income in the time of crisis. I sent them to a good bankruptcy lawyer.

This morning I read an article in the Washington Post that reminded me of that couple. The Treasury Department announced that the United States would have to default on its obligations unless Congress increases the limit on the National Debt before the end of May. With the old ones maxed out the Treasury is applying to Congress for a new credit card.

At the same time the President wants another tax cut. He and the Republican leadership want to add to the $1.3 Trillion tax cut they already gave the upper class with another $550 Billion slice off the tax revenue pie chart. In March alone the Treasury had to borrow $77.Billion to keep the bills paid. At the same time the President asked Congress for $79 Billion to pay for the Iraqi war.

The couple I sent to the bankruptcy lawyer may not save their marriage but they have run head on into the First Law of Holes. When you have dug yourself into a hole so deep that you are unable to climb out of it the first thing to do is to quit digging. Do that and you can start hollering for a ladder. Keep digging and sooner or later there won’t be a ladder long enough to get you out.

That is a lesson that the Bush Administration seems to be forgetting. Instead of calling for a ladder they are sending to Congress for another shovel. All the President’s men have ignored the First Law of Holes.