What is a promise? Rather, why is it so important to us?  As children we learn very quickly the value of a kept promise or the hurt that a broken promise can inflict for life.  A couple that my wife and I knew had their marriage end in a rather ugly divorce. The thing I remember most about this was their youngest child crying, screaming at her father, "But you promised you'd never leave us!" Many years back, you could only seal a "deal" or a "promise" with a handshake.  My, how things have changed.  A very wealthy man once told me, "Son, a million dollars ain't what it used to be." Apparently, neither is a promise.

Every two, four, or six years we find ourselves in the midst of an election for one office or another.  You, along with many others, have likely noticed that there is never a shortage of candidates making outlandish claims and promises as big as the sky.  And what do we do? We vote for the one who made the biggest promise! Or the one who looks the best or raises the most money.  If that candidate happens to have all three of those points going for him, he is assured an easy win.  Just a word of caution to those elected officials--be careful...some of your constituents have expectations that you'll do what you said you'd do.  Shocking, isn't it?

In 2009, I began my race for the U.S. Senate here in Arkansas.  In the following weeks and months leading up to the primary election in May of 2010, I received many letters and surveys from every special interest group known to mankind.  NRA survey (check), National Right to Life survey (check), Farm Bureau Questionnaire (check), and on and on.  Many groups I had never heard of.  As someone who has always been politically active, I thought I had heard of them all.  But there are many dozen more.  I filled out and returned several, including the ones I mentioned above, including at least a couple that asked me to take and sign a pledge as to my position on a particular topic.

I remember signing two that were exclusively about tax policy. More specifically, a pledge not to raise taxes.  As someone who ran on the fact that we didn't have a revenue problem, we had a spending problem, I signed that pledge.  I believed it then, still do!

There was one particular organization called Americans for Tax Reform that asked all candidates to pledge not to raise taxes.  I signed that pledge! For the record, I would sign it again.  However, what I signed doesn't matter now, due to my primary election loss.  What does matter is for those who signed that same pledge and were victorious in their race to honor their pledge.  Let them not hide behind a microphone or worse, the dog and pony show we hear called the "Super Committee."  Furthermore, the last thing we need is to hear a lecture from those who would like to break their pledge, about saving their country.  What part of $15 trillion in debt is so hard for them to comprehend?

Last spring we saw flooding in Arkansas like we haven't seen in generations.  The Mississippi River Delta, which includes much of east Arkansas, was under several feet of water with hundreds of other square miles threatened, but protected by a levee system that proved to be adequate.  But barely!  It's true that many crops were lost, planting delayed, millions of dollars lost due to equipment damage, crop damage, and prevented planting. But it could have been so much worse.  Many small towns along the river levees were on edge for several days, indeed weeks.  What was it that calmed nerves during those stressful times? The Corps of Engineers informed the citizens of so many towns that the levees would hold--CONFIDENCE! The Corps could be trusted.  The good citizens knew the reputation of the Corps and felt comfortable in knowing that the flood was being managed by competent people.

So what's this got to do with flooding? In conclusion, it has everything to do with flooding.  We are drowning as a nation in a rising flood of debt.  Congress has for decades played games and shenanigans to make it seem to the public that everything is okay.  With our nation's downgraded credit rating, and threat of further downgrades a possibility, we know this can't go on.  The debt waters are rising.  Will the levee hold? Not for long! And what are we hearing from Washington? More excuses! The trickles of devaluation have begun to top the levee.  And we are left with a Congress that no one believes can manage this crisis.  God save the USA.