I am not opposed to all debt. I have a mortgage; I did not wait until I had saved enough money for a house before I bought one. But I did save a large downpayment for my first home, and I purchased one I could afford. The very least a fiscal conservative can expect is that our suddenly spendthrift government spends wisely, and that they have some reasonable plan for a return to the black. I am not sure we will achieve either of those aims, but that discussion belongs to another place and time.
What worries me as much, moving forward, is what our government might feel it has to do to consolidate the support of its traditional base in these unprecedented times. Those of us who are fiscally conservative cannot be anything but skeptical, but could social conservatives be placated by some concessions to their agenda? Having pledged deficits for the foreseeable future, might our leaders move against arts funding, against reproductive rights, against gay marriage? I do not mean to sound alarmist, but big spending has broad appeal, and in this climate there seems to be little to gain in initiating nuanced approaches to controversial positions that would do little but anger further many of the people who do oppose spending.
If I am skeptical about fiscal policy in Canada, I am terrified by the debt being shouldered in the United States. Still, the priority the Obama administration has already given science - moving to address eight years of Republican neglect of stem cell research - does hearten me. I am not sure there will be similar social progress in this country, so let us hope our government is more careful with our money. I began to lose faith some time ago.
