Everyone I talk to is angry or confused about what’s happening in Washington. These are not good times for the economy, businesses or jobs because of the federal government shutdown.  

The White House and Congress cannot reach an agreement to solve this dilemma on the debt limit and the Affordable Care Act standoff. We are in a financial mess right now, but our representatives and the Obama administration are not agreeing to negotiate.

Only seven days are left before the government runs out of its borrowing authority. It is a serious matter. If not approved by Oct. 17, our government will default on many of our nation’s obligations, domestically and worldwide.

A default could prevent the federal government from paying government workers, paying bills for services and making its interest payments on U.S. bonds, for example. If the government does not pay bondholders the money that is due to them, the interest rate on future bonds will likely increase. This would cause commercial lending rates to increase, making it harder for businesses to receive or pay for loans they need, and could stifle economic growth.

There are legitimate issues about raising the debt limit, but government spending needs to be covered. At the same time, we need to recognize that fiscal debt has worsened to multi-trillions of dollars, and is still growing. Both sides have legitimate concerns about the overall fiscal health of the nation, but they are very far apart in terms of what they believe are the proper ways to cut the debt.

A short-term increase on raising the nation’s debt limit could avoid the default. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, is working on a plan to cut federal spending and revise the U.S. tax code to possibly open a bipartisan meeting between Republican and Democratic politicians. Whether or not it works, it is a move in the right direction. Both sides need to signal a willingness to make compromises.

However, the debt limit should not be the vehicle for making unilateral demands. The time to work out positions is when funding bills and taxing policies are being debated. Once the country buys goods or services, it has to pay for them.

We need to put the 800,000 federal employees who have been furloughed back to work. If that happens, then many businesses doing government work will rehire their laid-off employees, too. This would also restore confidence in our markets, and help to stabilize our fiscal markets. It is time for politicians on both sides of the aisle to stop posturing and start serving the needs of the American people.

The Affordable Care Act is the law of the land. It has a lot of problems that need to be ironed out. Some regulations may need to be changed or removed, especially as glitches occur. That effort should be ongoing, but the debt ceiling votes should not be about whether or not to approve the act. It already was approved, and the Supreme Court decided that it was legal. President Obama said he is open to negotiations over his health care law, but only after Congress approves measures to end the government shutdown and raise the U.S. debt ceiling.

Some constitutional lawyers have suggested that the president, as our leader, may have the constitutional power to avoid default, that he could use his position to borrow funds to pay the government’s debts.

If debt goes up, prices will increase and the dollar’s value will go down. Everybody will lose: politicians, businesses and the American citizens. It will mean more taxes, less employment, less wages and less money spent in the economy for growth. It is not a pleasant happening.

What are the alternatives? We need a more responsible set of elected officials. One of my sons has written an article suggesting that we should vote all present members of Congress out of office and elect all new ones. Others bring up the issue of setting term limits on all our elected officials, so political party legislators stay in touch with their voters, instead of trying to build their own reputations. I think that both of these options fail to solve the problems, but elected officials who do not work on behalf of their voters should be voted out of office at election time.

Right now, we need our elected representatives to start acting like grownups instead of children. There is a time to posture, and a time to be responsible. We deserve responsible leaders in our great nation.

— Bernard Featherman is a business columnist for the Journal Tribune and former president of the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce.