I have avoided writing about what’s just happened in Congress concerning the federal debt ceiling. Actually, I’ve done more than that. I’ve avoided reading about it or watching programs about it on TV.
I feel I’ve we’ve been screwed. It hurts a lot.
As we’ve learned with terrorism there isn’t much you can do when your nemesis is willing to take himself down while taking you down. That’s what went on. The deal was shaped by partisans willing to act as suicide bombers!
The right wing of the Republican Party threatened to blow-up our economy if they didn’t get what they wanted. Everyone was scared because we knew they would!
Worse still the president and Democrats in Congress caved without a real fight. They control one house of Congress and the Executive Branch and they came away with bubkis.
This agreement might appease the bond rating agencies and help our nation’s balance sheet in the short term, but it guarantees the pain felt by the middle and lower class will persist and probably get worse. This deal won’t spawn jobs. The gulf between haves and have-nots will grow. The President and Democrats in Congress ought to be ashamed.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t cut back government spending. We should. There are loads of wasteful military programs and subsidies which produce the opposite of their intended result. At the same time we should put money into rebuilding our crumbling national infrastructure. We can should raise revenues by asking wealthy people and corporations to pay more.
There is little in this agreement I like or support. The intransigence shown by the Tea Party is a nightmare for all of us and now they that they feel empowered that will only get worse!
It’s worth saying again: We’ve been screwed.
(This is seems a good time to remind you these are my opinions alone. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my family, friends or employer.)
