Your Representatives, Your Choices, Your Fault

The House rejected extending the payroll tax-cut, and why because they insist it was not to their liking, it didn’t suit their preferences or sensibilities. Just another in a long line of partisan ready-made disagreements over which to demonstrate their vigorous support of the American public. The House Republicans have once again seized this position despite the fact that the public doesn’t support their position, their reasoning or their self-aggrandizing posturing on this minor issue. I don’t mean to put forth the Republicans as the singular pathetic and foolish members of Congress, they are simply the morons of the moment. I am sure that they will be displaced or joined by Democrats as they collectively stumble along seeking the next opportunity to show their addlepated incompetence.

But surely the logic of the House and its leadership makes sense and justifies their present unproductive resistance to progress. In examining the Republicans stance the public would, I am sure, rush to Congress’ defense as being exactly what the public would think Congress should be doing. This sympathy for Congress would be regardless of the persistence in poll after poll on Congressional effectiveness that the public generally reviles Congress and holds them in abject contempt.

The Republicans do not think that the payroll tax cut extension should only be extended two months. They want it extended for a year. Of course the Republicans want a few other things added. But extending the tax-cut two months is just unreasonable, because as they say: “It just kicks the can down the road.” Now you might question their logic on this point and I am sure that they have some compelling answer and rationale for this view. But really, rather than accepting a two month extension; their choice is to not extend it at all! Because if they extend it two months then they don’t get any future chance to present a plan that is more thought out and widely supported; except the one they could spend between now and two months from now justifying to the public. Well, perhaps their staffers might explain to them that in two months Congress will be presented with the same issue.

The Republicans are also insistent that the payroll tax-cut extension include a deadline for a Presidential decision on the Keystone pipeline. I suspect that the Republicans are under a tremendous amount of pressure from campaign contributors to get the pipeline approved. So leveraging the payroll tax-cut issue to help force in a comingled decision on this completely independent, unrelated and exceedingly more controversial issue is the type of disingenuous and duplicitous strategy that members of Congress have found so useful to force the public to accept something that they cannot secure on its own merits.

Americans may be disgusted with Congress, they may find them loathsome individually and collectively but they choose them and so have only their selves to blame. Instead of fighting over a minor, trivial and unproductive issue, like a two month extension; why don’t the Republicans do something positive? Why not demonstrate your intelligence and brilliant insight by putting forth a bill to fix Social Security? They could restore Medicare and Medicaid to fiscally sound programs. Why don’t they? Well, because just like the Democrats, they don’t know how. They all have their policy positions that they contend will solve these national problems, but their policies are as toothless, ineffective and misguided as they were when they set up the policies that got us here in the first place.

You picked them, and you are probably going to keep them. So when you think the country is going in the wrong direction, what the hell are you still doing sitting behind the steering wheel?