Fat Tuesday Budget Promises Nasty Hangover

Type_webhead_here This may be blasphemous to suggest, but the correlation between the state of our economy and the onset of the Lenten season is too striking not to comment upon.

Lent is -- and has been since the days of the very early Church -- a time of penance through prayer, fasting, and alms-giving as Christians prepare themselves spiritually, physically, and mentally for Easter. The 40 days of the Christian ritual begin on Ash Wednesday and end at sundown on Holy Thursday.

The weeks leading up to Lent traditionally have been celebrated with festivals and fun in Roman Catholic countries for many centuries, as people readied themselves to take on the sacrifices required by Lent. In several cities, Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans to name but two, the week before Lent has become a non-stop party of wild antics and a what-happens-here-stays-here attitude. The final blowout takes place on Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras.

The next morning, Ash Wednesday, everyone is supposed to wake up sorry for their transgressions, go to Mass to be reminded of our dusty origins, and strive to do our best to repent from our sins as we seek to become better Christians. When Easter Sunday finally arrives, we will, hopefully, emerge from those long days deserving of the wonderful gift that God has given us.

Even non-Christians can recognize the symbolism of rebirth in this process. And everyone can appreciate -- as we enter the last dreary weeks of winter -- the promise that spring and new life lie before us. We struggle through those final cold, dark days until we feel the warmth of the sun upon us again.

Does anyone else see a striking parallel to our economic situation here? We are definitely in cold and bleak economic times. And it was somehow ironic that President Barack Obama gave his not-a-State-of-the-Union speech on Fat Tuesday. The heady cheers, the standing ovations, the speaker of the House -- whose jumpy cheerleading lacked only pompoms -- along with all the promises for a better tomorrow were as bright and shiny and eagerly snatched up by adoring fans and anxious Americans as the beads thrown out at a Mardi Gras parade.

But as surely as solemn Ash Wednesday follows Fat Tuesday, we woke up the next morning and began to digest and discuss what was in the wonderfully delivered oratory. Some are wondering if there may be a disconnect between what Obama said and what Washington is doing during these lean times, for the House responded by immediately passing a $410 billion omnibus bill laden with pork -- one week after the president signed the $787 stimulus plan.

How can the president say he is determined to halve the deficit and deliver us from this financial meltdown on one hand, and then sign away so much money? Obama himself said during Tuesday's speech: "Given these realities, everyone in this chamber -- Democrats and Republicans -- will have to sacrifice some worthy priorities for which there are no dollars. And that includes me."

For true followers, Lent can be difficult. It calls for sacrifice, or a determined attempt to better oneself. And it gets more difficult as the final days approach.

To reap the full benefits of the season, there can be no half-hearted approach -- the same should be true for the work required to repair our economy.

The difference between what is being said and what is actually being done in terms of spending brings to mind the story of a man who went to the pub every day and drank three beers -- one for himself, and one for each of his brothers who had emigrated to faraway lands. One day he enters the pub and orders only two beers. The concerned bartender asks if his brothers are well. "Yes," replied the man, "My brothers are fine, but I have given up beer for Lent." Funny story -- but not when that sort of thinking is used to justify spending money that isn't there.

Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass), defending the budget bill in all its blubber-ridden glory, claimed: "We need to turn the page once and for all on the last eight years. I'm glad that we have reversed the Bush cuts on domestic priorities." (In truth, President Bush didn't cut domestic priorities at all, but that's another column.)

Whew, and it sure is a good thing we are now funding those all-important priorities! Just for starters there's $41.5 million to improve the libraries of three former presidents (Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Johnson); $20 million for the National Endowment of the Arts; $1.95 million for Rep. Charles Rangel's monument to himself; and, most fittingly, $1.8 million to research "swine odor and manure management." (Don't get overly excited at that one -- those dollars would go to Iowa, not Congress).

Eventually, either thanks to or despite efforts by Washington, our economy will recover. It always does.

It would certainly help matters if Washington began to do as most Americans are rapidly learning to do -- manage limited finances with responsibility and take those unpopular, sometimes painful, steps necessary to correct the bad habits that got us into this situation in the first place.

Whether it takes 40 weeks or, God forbid, 40 months, we will emerge a stronger, healthier country for the effort. And in the meantime, a little fasting and repentance -- and a lot of prayer -- won't hurt anyone.

Contact Robin Beres at (804) 649-6305 or .