Why is it that each year at budget time our nation seems to be faced with a capitol filled with children?

Almost like clockwork, it seems, Congress begins drawing arbitrary lines in the sand and vowing to “shut down the government” if their political foes fail to cross the line and compromise on spending.

The cries of, “If I don’t get my way, I’ll just pick up my marbles and go home” are becoming more than a little tiring.

None of us wants, or needs, the government to shut down and come to a grinding halt.

What we need is not quibbling over the short-term issues of “billions” of dollars in differences — which is what the current fuss entails.

What we need is a group of serious, civic-minded Americans, elected not to represent a political party, but the best interests of the people. Those people should be debating the “trillions” at stake in the coming years.

Our nation’s time and focus are much better spent working on finding solutions to the long-term economic challenges this country faces, not the short-term political posturing that we’re currently seeing.

Shutting down the government? If the first phase of the government shut down were to lock up Congress, then perhaps we’d have a good start to resolving the underlying problems.

Closing national parks, cutting the pay of soldiers in the field and putting other programs in jeopardy doesn’t do much but make us look like a ship without a solid rudder.

America deserves better leadership than this.