A couple of people have noticed that something is amiss in our government. It appears that there is this budget problem that could be a little troublesome for the economy, the country and even the public. I don’t know why everyone is worried; we have Congress on the job to deal with it. And who could be more capable than the members of Congress in dealing with it? After all, half the responsibility rests with Congress. It’s Congress that created the problem. Perhaps their concerns stems from the fact that it’s Congress that has not just refused to deal with the problem; but Congress has actively and knowingly sought to go out of their way to make the problem larger, more difficult and destructive to the American way of life. Now yes, it is true that Congress is not totally alone in being culpable for this egregious failure; the public has been woefully negligent in stepping up to our own responsibility for ignoring simple and basic fiscal reality. Well the chickens have come home to roost; and surprise, surprise the economic zero-sum game has turned up the pay your bills card. So now that the debt ceiling question has reached the point where even the politicians are forced to actually step forward and do their jobs.
Let’s assume for a moment that the members of Congress are at least smarter than their village idiots; although I think that that was their qualification for being elected so it is a stretch assumption. If Congress finds some half-assed, mediocre, weasel worded, unimaginative, kick-the-can down the road solution to extending the national debt-ceiling then the crisis will appear to be avoided. If Congress doesn’t find a way to raise the debt-ceiling then we didn’t even get the village idiots elected; and America will pay a far greater price then should have been required.
But at the end of the day, Congress will not have done three things that are critical to the future of America. Congress will not have solved the problem, Congress will not have understood the problem, and Congress will not have served the American people. And there is virtually no one in Congress who is even aware that this is the case. The TEA Party right-wing ideologies want to solve the problem by cutting spending, but no increases in taxes. The liberal left-wing ideologies want to cut spending and raise taxes on the wealthy and insure the entitlement programs are preserved. The unheard (or perhaps non-existent) moderates are well, unheard; presenting no vision or plan for how to move the country forward in a sane and reasonable manner.
The Republican and Democratic parties with their own internal supposed spectrum of moderate to right or left ideological views have misused the nomenclature of moderate, liberal, progressive, conservative, hawk, dove, or centrist. Both parties are more alike than they advocate; they are both ‘know-nothing’ / ‘do nothing’ advertising campaigns. They both spend their time, energies, and resources in simply achieving and prolonging their tenures in office.
So will Congress save us or screw us? Congress will tell us that they saved us from the brink of the abyss and are now working on restoring America to a sound footing. But deep in your head and heart most of you know that you just got screwed again. They haven’t done anything to restore our economy, at best they have managed to keep it from a precipitous decent into a truly catastrophic economic quagmire; and have left the public, the economy and the nation lost in the wilderness of leaderless politicians. And not only will Congress have not lead, they will persist in hindering any progress toward solutions and establishing any momentum for achieving the American vision of a secure future with freedom and liberty for ourselves and our posterity.
It is time for those Americans who are independent of these two parties to recognize that they are the only force that can restore America, that they must not only value the American dream and principles; but that they must be the responsible and accountable voters for choosing those sent to Congress and the Presidency. It is time to stop the failed ideologies that have corrupted the Democratic and Republican parties from within and find individuals who are worthy of the offices that they seek.
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