One thing this blog strives to do is to encourage independent commonsensical thought among its readers (no matter how few). Its objective is not to sound or lean to any political dashboard. In addition, the intention was also never to repeat topics too closely in a time-space continuum.
However, watching the unbelievably entrenched schism in the dueling press conferences yesterday between Obama and Boehner was disconcerting. It was such a gut-wrenching thirty minutes of guttural dysfunctionality that left most Americans - and the World over - aghast in stupefaction. How did we, as Americans, get to this point? How can we explain to the rest of the World, or to our children, and the rest of posterity, that our representatives in Washington could not come to an agreement on a potentially implosive as the debt limit?
It is intransigently irresponsible for one group to say that to raise the debt limit, we have to cut deeply into America's spending without a concomitant infusion or generation of revenue.
It is also debilitating for the other group to deny that ballooning of the nation's burgeoning debts is unrelated to social programs - which make up over 65 to 70 % of the country's expenses.
Are we truly saying that we as Americans cannot come together on putting all these factors on the table and working out a formula that leads us to a road of financial sanity without playing "footie" (like the Brits would say) with our futures?
Vince Cable, the Business Secretary of the UK, launched a tirade on this debate yesterday. He said, "The irony of the situation at the moment, with markets opening tomorrow morning, is that the biggest threat to the world financial system comes from a few rightwing nutters in the American Congress rather than the eurozone." By "rightwing nutters" he meant the Tea Party members in the House. I think it is unwise for any foreign entity to inject themselves in this country's business, however, it should be duly noted that the country's failure to raise the debt ceiling would severely impact all and sundry around the globe.
Like one of my very good friends remarked to me recently, Are we ready to cut our noses to spite our faces by letting the debt ceiling issue be so politicized that we lead this country to financial ruin? Are you kidding me? How can we choose to ride this bus (US) into a ditch - with eyes wide open - just for ideological sport? More importantly, it is time for the ordinary citizens to raise the decibel of our voices by telling our elected representatives - on both sides of the political isle - enough is enough!
As this comment is being posted , The white House and congress are on the verge of a "deal" on The debt ceiling . Not too sure how the deal has been cut , or what the dynamics is involved. The truth is : The white House , and Congress have created one heck of a Nasty , Awful mess ; and no doubt , America has washed it's dirty linen in full public glare.
ReplyDeleteIf America is to avoid this sort of shambolic episode in the future , it needs a fundamental re-evaluation of how it's political system operates ; This apparent disconnect of The populace from reality ; then the second tier disconnect of politicians and reality. It is my view that this phony crisis on the debt ceiling is a symptom of this underlying problem.
You tell me why all this bickering is taking place for an issue that should be treated as random problem solving , and see if it cannot be traced to this disconnect. When politicians speak with different voices on national matters , and those being represented have hardly been able to articulate their views or interests with any kind of unanimity , it's fair to point to a disconnect. Uncle Sam takes in 200 billion a month in revenue , and after it's financial obligations for the month should have at least 20 billion in the kitty , yet , consistently runs-up a budget deficit , then something does not add up. And that my friends , points to the need for this dichotomy on so many fronts to be narrowed.
America is a big and diverse country , and as with massive fedral states , national interests can be pretty challenging to define , and articulate. But let's hope this land mark moment in America's history enables it create a mechanism for the ordinary populace to know when it's common interests need to be defended together , not by some politician on his own agenda , or worse still , defending the agenda of the powerful minority , he / she speaks on behalf of.. Deep probing questions and Answers need to be heard on MEDICARE , MEDICAID , SOCIAL SECURITY , and other entitlements , Plus Government borrowing on an annual or cyclical bases. These issues transcend all " barriers " ; or ideological divides. This abrupt discussions on matters , and using jargon confusing to the common person is no way to run a country. In other words , The population young and old need empowerment through efficient information dissemination ; their representatives knowing truly that folks really do understand the crux of the issue , it 's only after that can anyone be truly represented, and the representative worth the title. That way , the people truly will become the masters , and Never again should the will of the minority surpass that of the rest
Matters like medicare , medicaid , social security and the like are programs that ought not to be a "political foot ball " if so many depend on them. If The debt ceiling is symbiotic to these programs , then it's hard not to see reason why this is a moment to represent the interests of the people by taking all measures necessary to preserve them , even if that means everyone paying more . It boils down to a communication of realities , and choices made on those bases.