We recently celebrated the Fourth of July, honoring America's independence. Our family has a tradition of going up to Breckenridge, Colo., a beautiful mountain ski town about half an hour from Vail. Every year we go to the local parade and watch the fireworks at night. It is quintessential small-town Americana at its best: picnics, fishing, family reunions, all sorts of festivities coupled with the beauty of this land.
As you can tell, I am very proud of this country and have never been ashamed to admit it.
Following the Fourth of July celebrations, we faced an increasing number of thunderstorms almost on a daily basis. Now, summer rains are beautiful to witness, but the ferocity of these storms the last few days has been exceptional and unusual.
We had a big aspen tree uprooted a block from our house, and the next-door neighbor's trampoline was picked up, slammed to the ground and demolished. Thunder, lightning, hail and wind have accompanied each storm, and they seem to be getting more severe.
As I have been reflecting on recent events, I cannot help but see symbolism in the state of our beautiful country. On the surface we have much to celebrate about: our freedoms and opportunities, our vast resources, the beauty of this land from "sea to shining sea" and so much more. In a lot of ways we are enjoying the fruits of America's Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately, we are also in the midst of some powerful national storms, with more to come.
In less than a month, specifically Aug. 2., the federal government will reach the limit on its debt, which now stands at an astonishing $14 trillion! Those numbers are incomprehensible to me. It's like saying my family has a credit card debt somewhere in the ballpark of $100 million. It sounds ridiculous of course when we put it in those terms.
Everyone knows we'll never pay it back, and yet we'd like to raise our debt ceiling, which is exactly what the White House and Congress are trying to negotiate right now. Raising a debt limit so we don't "bounce" any checks to our creditors may be a temporary solution, but it's not facing or dealing with our monumental problems.
What happens when the biggest economy in the world defaults on its payments is a scenario that nobody wants to see come to fruition. The so-called experts have described the consequences of such an event as catastrophic and dangerously unpredictable. So if we must increase the debt ceiling for now to avoid catastrophe, it has to be done with a clear understanding that it is followed with a realistic plan of action that will lead to increased deficit reduction. Anything less than such an agreement is like kicking the can down the road, which is how we got into this mess to begin with.
I have always believed that our Constitution is not to be messed with, but I think we should seriously consider the idea of adding an amendment to it. Having a balanced budget amendment would mean that the federal government would have to learn to live within its means. Our Founding Fathers didn't sacrifice all they did for this country to owe trillions of dollars to foreign countries and to go bankrupt.
The time has come for all those in elected office to put their country first and leave their personal ambitions behind. That's what it means to serve your country. The business-as-usual approach seems to mean "I was elected so I can serve myself and a few of my friends who financed my campaign."
I realize that serving in local government like I have been the last four or five years is not the same. At this level we can see the benefits of serving our communities firsthand. I'm not sure at what point corruption sets in and we forget who elected us and why.
All the across the world, people are fed up with business as usual. Whether it is in North Africa, the Middle East or Europe, people are taking to the streets to say "ENOUGH!" Sometimes this is done through peaceful protests, but in many other cases it has turned to violence. I hope that this type of action is not seen on our streets, but sometimes I get concerned about where we are headed.
American resilience and perseverance is legendary, and nobody exemplified it better than the U.S. women's soccer team. Playing with a woman down against formidable Brazil and one goal behind in overtime, they managed to tie the score on the last play of the game and then win it in penalty kicks — a truly improbable comeback by an amazing group of young American women! Let these women teach the rest of us and especially those in positions of power in Washington what it means to be an American.
Be united in purpose, sacrifice yourselves for the greater good, have faith in God, never give up, and eventually you will succeed. This isn't a soccer game that's at stake, rather it is the very existence of this great country.
God bless America and its leaders to have the courage they need to make the tough choices.
Dr. Elia Gourgouris is a well-known personal and business coach. He is also a nationally known speaker, relationship expert and author of The Multi-Platinum Marriage: Going from Surviving to Thriving. He can be contacted through his websites, www.LDSCoaching.com and www.AskDrElia.com. He currently serves as mayor pro-tem for the town of Superior, Colo.