I am reading a lot of comments from lawmakers admitting to “frustration” during the battle over debt-ceiling legislation.
I wonder if they sense how the public feels?
The ongoing congressional food fight, which has little to do with curbing spending or debt, reminds me of pickup baseball games played in the neighborhood where I grew up.
The games went along smoothly until a controversial call occurred, and then the battle would rage on until eventually the game broke up. Everyone would come up with a reason they couldn’t keep playing: “It’s lunchtime;” “I have to cut the grass;” “I have to watch my kid sister;” and “It’s too hot.”
All of those served as smokescreens for the real reason they wanted to quit: They really did not want to play anymore.
Neither side of the political fence wants to play anymore.
I don’t think they ever wanted to play.
They all have bigger fish to fry, politically speaking, than debt limits and deficit spending.
A presidential election looms, and they all are beholding to someone, except the voters.
They have entrenched themselves in political-party philosophy. They have signed pledges to lobbyists and political action committees. The got elected with tea party votes and don’t want to lose them.
The list goes on and on.
As I have written before, once elected, a politician’s first and foremost priority becomes getting re-elected, regardless of the cost — literally and figuratively.
And now the bickering extends from between the two parties to within the two parties.
Meanwhile, today I learned that the Aug. 2 “deadline” for acting in order to avoid government shutdowns and defaults is not accurate. More likely, it’s somewhere between Aug. 8 and Aug. 15, government officials and financial experts say.
So, our elected lawmakers have even more time to threaten the markets, sink confidence in the U.S. abroad and make Americans question whether the way we govern can serve the country and its people.
A recent news report stated that several newly-elected U.S. representatives from South Carolina left a fruitless negotiation with House Majority Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and announced they planned to go to a chapel and pray for guidance and leadership.
I think the good Lord would be more inclined to intervene in a pickup baseball game among 10-year-olds. They have a future.
Resources:
- http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110729/…
- http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110/…
- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/…
- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/…
- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/us/…
- http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110728/…
- http://www.courier-journal.com/article/…
- http://www.courier-journal.com/article/201107/…
- http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110728/OPINION04/…
Who really won with this latest aggreement? Not the public. I guess it must be the politicians.
Thanks for your post. No one won. The bill does not cut debt. Politically based decision making is more deeply entrenched. The market has tanked. Eeeeeeeeesh. Mac
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