By Jeffrey A. Rendall
25th anniversary of September 11th, 2001 – and another milestone we must confront
Historic milestones. They mark a point in a long journey, hopefully adding perspective to what was seen or heard before and since their creation.
Today signifies the passing of another momentous anniversary, the 25th year since the shocking Islamic terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and what would’ve been either the United States Capitol Building or White House. The airliner destined for either of those sites was brought down (in central Pennsylvania) by self-sacrificing passengers who gave their lives in hopes of preserving them.
It’s hard to imagine what would’ve happened if the fourth captured plane had reached its intended destination. We owe these previously anonymous strangers an enduring debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.
If you’re interested in recreating how it felt on September 11, 2001, revisit the movie, “United 93”. The film brought back feelings you wouldn’t realize you’d saved. Unpleasant, but sometimes necessary to add context to the uncertain phases we’re traveling through now.
There will no doubt be commemorations, testimonials and honorariums to 9/11’s victims and first-responders today. As Lincoln said at Gettysburg, “It is all together fitting and proper that we should do this.”
Twenty-five years equals one generation when appraising the passage of time. An entire generation of Americans has been born and raised since that fateful day a quarter-century ago. Individuals will gather to reflect and judge how the world has evolved – or devolved – from September of 2001.
Will we discover the answers we seek? It’s up to everyone to decide.
The United States passed another, less striking milestone recently. It didn’t receive nearly the attention September 11th will earn, but it is quite noteworthy, nonetheless.
In an article titled, “Grim $40 trillion debt milestone raises questions about fiscal commission”, Zach Halaschak wrote at the Washington Examiner:
“The growth of the national debt beyond the $40 trillion mark and the increase in yields on long-term Treasuries have reignited talks of a bipartisan fiscal commission. Fiscal hawks are urging action. In addition to the towering $40 trillion debt and higher interest costs, the trust funds for Social Security and Medicare face exhaustion in the coming years.
“Hard decisions need to be made, and some experts think the best way to do so would be through some form of bipartisan fiscal commission, which would give lawmakers some political cover while showing markets and investors that the United States is serious about righting its fiscal ship. Calls for some sort of bipartisan solution also come as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the country can simply ‘grow our way out’ of the debt, a prospect that most economists argue is not feasible.
“…This month, the Treasury Department confirmed a $1.8 trillion deficit in the first 10 months of fiscal 2026.”
We hear the warnings all the time when the annual budget deficit is compared to those incurred during World War II, where heroic veterans of the fighting were sent on promotional tours to help raise bond money to fund and sustain the national war effort. Yes, those were different times, when there was unanimity of purpose and the enemy was well defined in the form of Axis fascist dictators.
Today, there also is a recognizable enemy – the mullahs in Iran – but the war mission spends pennies on the dollar compared to the great struggles of the past, including the “War on Terror” initiated by the Bush administration this century.
“We’ll get them terrorists!” The political class boasted back then. We did kill a lot of ‘em in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places around the globe. But there was a price for it all. And a massive human cost as well.
The nation’s credit demand is ongoing. Again, for perspective purposes, the size of the national debt in 2001 was $5.8 trillion, which was about 55% of GDP back then. Still big, but about half the tally of today’s GDP number.
Would a “commission” solve the problem? It’s sometimes hard to remember now, but there was a “commission” to investigate and report on the events of 9/11/01, too. Brownie points and kudos to anyone who recalls what the commission folks found… and whatever stemmed from their findings.
For those curious, Wikipedia reported: “The primary conclusion in the 9/11 Report is that failures of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) permitted the September 11 terrorist attacks to occur and that wiser and more aggressive actions by these agencies could potentially have prevented the attack.”
So, essentially, the panel mustered to dissect the 9/11 terror attacks concluded that the nation’s top intelligence agencies failed to recognize the sizeable footprints the would-be attackers were leaving, which directly led to commercial airliners being hijacked and crashed into buildings, resulting in thousands of deaths, inestimable monetary damage and a war fallout that reverberates even today.
One understands why Americans demanded to know what happened before September 11, 2001, and tried to make sense of what transpired afterwards. The retaliatory military action began less than a month later in Afghanistan (labelled Operation Enduring Freedom which occurred, ironically, on October 7, 2001), President George W. Bush delivered his “Axis of Evil” address to Congress a few months later and the country plunged into a conflict that still hasn’t been resolved.
The debt question will take longer to digest and there won’t be nearly the agreement on how it should be approached.
It’s my impression that Republicans have put forward a number of proposals addressing the debt dilemma, many of which seemed to make sense, only to be shot-down and demagogued to death by Democrats whose only response to any sensible idea is/was, “Republicans want to starve seniors”, or, “Republicans want to take the food out of the mouths of children.”
I recall an impromptu media appearance that California Democrat Congressman Henry Waxman held on the capitol grounds to savage the newly elected Republican majority for merely proposing to reform the federal school lunch entitlement program. Remember that? This was in mid-1995, and I had just arrived in the nation’s Capital after moving across country from California. I watched with fascinated amazement as Waxman lied through his teeth about what would happen to children under the modest proposals initiated by the Newt Gingrich-led House.
How is this relevant? Was this another milestone? It was for me. Thinking back to those times, which were relatively calm in terms of the urgency of the overall budget situation, I understood just how difficult it would be to rectify the debt problem. Republicans had just taken back the House majority for the first time in 40 years, and I thought good days were ahead for the U.S. government overspending issue.
Republicans nearly got a Balanced Budget Amendment passed later in the decade. Almost. My, how such an artificial fiscal discipline measure might have improved things, at least at the political level.
Who knows? Perhaps a “commission” comprised of Democrats and Republicans could come to terms with the types of reforms that could make a difference in the not-so-distant future.
I would surmise Republicans wouldn’t have much trouble choosing a half-dozen or so senators and representatives to participate in the undertaking, but what about the Democrats? Is there anyone, outside of Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, who could be trusted to take a serious look at the debt/spending problem and offer up a package that wasn’t entirely comprised of huge tax-the-rich schemes while not paying heed to the major drivers of debt?
Would Democrats finally be willing to concede there’s a spending addiction in Congress? This would surely help. I don’t see it happening in today’s post-9/11 political reality where most Democrats are hopelessly afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome and don’t care about the debt problem. At all. They’d rather dig at Trump and demonize the wealthy for making too much money, as though it’s a rich guy’s fault that Congress can’t mind its budget.
A “commission” may be the place to start. Let’s see the party leaders propose forming such a body, then pay close attention to who liberals nominate to serve. If Elizabeth Warren or Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is put forth as a possibility, we’ll know they’re not serious. But what do Democrats care? It’s someone else’s problem.
Today is a day for solemn reflection, remembrances, prayer and marking a significant milestone. After paying our respects, some may even suggest that an equally fearsome “enemy” is knocking at the proverbial gates of our republic, the threat of national insolvency and bankruptcy.
Where were you when the buildings fell from the sky on September 11, 2001? Think about how the world has changed since then, and resolve to do something to better it.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .