Personal finance expert Dave Ramsey slammed the federal government over runaway spending as talks over the looming fiscal cliff between the White House and GOP remain stalled.
"It's distressing because… money problems in our personal lives or in Washington are not really the problem. They're the symptom of something else that's going on in our lives," Dave Ramsey said on FOX Business’ "Cavuto: Coast-to-Coast" Tuesday.
"In the case of Washington," he continued, "the spending and the debt ceiling being continually raised and trillions upon trillions upon trillions of debt just continuing to pile in there, it's just it's not really the debt that's the problem. It's the indication that Washington truly thinks that they can buy our love. They truly think that they can't say ‘no’ to anyone in the public."
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The national debt is currently at center stage for Congress, which is seeking to resolve the question before facing a default. Lawmakers are at an impasse between cutting federal spending or raising the ceiling. House Republicans are looking for a resolution to this with a proposed bill to raise the debt ceiling.
Ramsey went on to slam lawmakers over the failure to rein in spending.
"They don't have any backbone to do the statesmanlike thing and stop this ridiculous spending or at least rein it in. None of them seem to have the political capital or backbone to do it of character. Instead, they just continue to buy our votes like good old politicians do."
PAIN OF HIGH INFLATION LIKELY TO LINGER FOR MANY AMERICANS
The eight-time national bestselling author also talked to host Neil Cavuto about a viral video in which he advised a 29-year-old woman as part of a couple about getting rid of her nearly $1 million debt.
"I want her to win, she was ready," he said of the interaction with the caller. "She was scared, and so by the end of the call, they were, I think, she, was committed."
He shared with Cavuto that the couple had a "good income" but were "completely out of control" and needed to settle their spending.
Ramsey maintained that Americans "do not have a long-term mentality anymore," leading us to constant distractions.
"We have the attention span in this country of a gnat," Ramsey said.
"To win financially, you have to back up and have a vision for the long term. And when you don't, you borrow yourself into oblivion and that's what Americans are doing."
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He shared that this increase in spending is borne from a "lack of emotional maturity."
"Children do what feels good. Adults devise a plan and follow it. Combined with we're the most marketed to society in the history of the human race. And so we're sold, sold, sold, sold. And then we act like children and adult bodies and just buy, buy, buy, buy, and then think there's no end to it," Ramsey warned.
