I call it the Montana Solution. It’s not elaborate. It’s not complicated. And to many Montanans, it’s pretty obvious. Here’s how I would apply it to the ongoing conversation about defaulting on our debt.
Step one: Identify the problem. The proverbial rent is due – quite literally on June 1 – and we must pay it. Our federal economy has become ensnared in a series of short-term fixes for a long-term problem. We borrow trillions of dollars as a nation to meet our obligations, and get people the resources they need, without a plan to pay it back.
Step two: Identify the political problem. My esteemed colleagues governing in D.C. want to spend money on programs and services that they and their constituents have identified as valuable without collecting the revenue required to pay for them. It’s the one thing they can agree on – more taxes won’t get you elected.
Step three: Expect more from your constituents and your colleagues. Flip the script. It is not unreasonable to think that the American electorate and those they elect believe that it is worthwhile – if not critically important – to find our way to a sustainable debt somewhere between $0 and $33 trillion. Have the fortitude as a voter to expect (or demand!) this from your representatives. And, as an elected, have the fortitude to make an uncompromisable commitment to getting it done without cutting the programs that people count on.
Step four: Find common ground. For example, that you agree on more than you don’t. Like the fact that successful negotiations require negotiating in good faith. This is quite simply a nonpartisan fact of life. I speak from experience as a former school board member who deeply believes in both the value of educators and the necessity of fiscally sustainable contracts for teachers.
The art of negotiating leads us to understand that disagreement fosters new ideas. We elected officials have priorities (mandates) from our constituents. Even though those might vary slightly from city to city, state to state, we have a responsibility to meet our obligation to avoid defaulting on our debt without compromising the services and programs voters want. The majority of voters support raising the debt ceiling to avoid default, and cutting vital programs is unpopular.
Finally, we must start trusting again. Our country is separating at the seams because we’ve lost fundamental trust in so many governing bodies, cultural north stars, and basic facts. In Montana, we’re rebuilding trust against all odds – and across great distances – by following steps one through four and doing our best to take the politics out of the decisions that impact people’s bank accounts, threaten their healthcare, jeopardize their housing, or pollute the air they breathe and the water they drink.
I encourage my state’s senators to find hope – and modelable governance – in how we’re doing things here at home. Like, acknowledging the necessity and challenge of being responsible for collecting revenue. In Montana, where I sit on the Tax Committee, we have great respect for and trust in our Department of Revenue. Why? Because we agree that we cannot govern without it – without funding it, staffing it, holding it accountable when it must course-correct, and giving it credit when it keeps the lights on and the people paid.
Governing isn’t easy. Paying for governance is even harder. Acknowledging this fact, regardless of which side of the aisle you sit on, is the final – and perhaps most important – step. Fiscal responsibility isn’t anathema to getting to govern, or more importantly, to getting to govern well.
That’s the Montana Solution.
Dave Fern is a Democratic state representative from Whitefish.