You want drama?

Ruben Navarette:

San Diego, California (CNN) — A shutdown? Seriously?

All the media and the politicians can talk about is the possibility that the federal government could shut down at the end of this week if a budget agreement isn’t struck, and who will get the blame if it does.

A poll by the Pew Research Center suggests the parties will share the blame almost evenly. Thirty-nine percent of people would blame Republicans. Thirty-six percent would blame Democrats. Sixteen percent would blame both parties.

I understand the focus on a possible shutdown. It is high drama. But there is plenty of drama in something that isn’t talked about nearly enough — the fact that the country’s financial picture just doesn’t pencil out and what it will mean to future generations if Congress and the White House don’t put politics on hold and tackle a $14.2 trillion federal debt and the crushing cost of entitlements.

You want drama? The United States cannot pay its bills, and the longer we wait to do something about it, the deeper the hole will get and the more difficult it will be to climb out of it. We have a generational war brewing as baby boomers, generation Xers and millennials who are working get stuck with the tab for a federal debt that exceeds $14 trillion and have to plan for a future that might not include Medicare and Social Security, while current retirees are guaranteed benefits. And a financial calamity is almost certainly in the cards, as more and more baby boomers start retiring, unless a deficit-cutting deal is reached.