Online game offer fun while you learn about our federal budget
by Colin Lovett – PIC Current Producer
I’ve got another game for you today. Not as exciting as killing frogs (see my Friday post), but just as addictive and much more important. Do you want to be a hero? How about a budget hero? This one’s not just for guys in bow-ties. Tights are optional.
As I was looking for sources for my article on the federal debt Monday, I came across the Budget Hero game from Marketplace, the show heard on many public radio stations every day.
It was a hoot! You get to control the federal budget and you have to make choices that will raise or lower the national debt. The best thing about the game is you not only control federal taxes and spending, but you get to learn more about the hard choices we face as a country.
Education is the only thing that will work. Politicians will continue to avoid the hard choices as long as they feel an uneducated public will boot them from office if they propose real solutions. People need to know that most of our federal spending goes to entitlements like medicare and social security or the military.
If we don’t do something, our kids will inherit our debt and be forced to make even harder choices than we face today. If we get involved and demand changes, our kids might even say thanks.
So, be a hero and put on that mask and cape (forget the tights). Play the game and then look at these resources to learn more.
After playing the game, Debt is tough. It is going to take a lot of sacrifice on everyone’s part to get the debt controlled. We will need a strong leader that will tell us the unpopular truth and to convince us to give more back, since we all were taking so much.
Thanks for the comment BDO. You are so right that our leaders will have to tell unpopular truths. But also, we as voters will have to reward those politicians who face this issue with candor.
I like you site by the way, very nice.