Another Close Call

A deal is done……temporarily. But other than this latest temporary deal, what has changed in the last 24 hours that would suggest this isn’t going to replay itself over and over again?  Maybe it’s time for a shakeup over in the Looney bin, which is sometimes referred to as the House of Representatives, although that title is being used less and less by ordinary Americans. The members of the tea party have acted like spoiled little brats as they held our government hostage during their latest tantrum.  At last Speaker Boehner brought some of the adults together and they were able to narrowly avert what would almost certainly have been calamitous for economies worldwide.  Now I think it’s time that the children were punished. When one of my sons throws himself on the floor and holds his breath, he doesn’t get his way.  I let him know in no uncertain terms that behavior like that will never be rewarded and will always bring negative consequences. It’s time for the Speaker to break out the paddle or the switch and paint some back porches red.  Why not strip some of the more vocal dissenters of reason of their coveted committee chair positions.  Let them know who is in charge of your caucus and maybe we can prevent more of these homemade political fiascos.  I have been a republican for over 20 years and lately I can’t figure out why.  It seems that every election cycle my party gets farther away from anything I believed it represented.  The Republican Party doesn’t need rebranding, it doesn’t need to broaden its tent, but it does need to stop catering to the extreme fringe.  It’s terrible for the party but more importantly it’s terrible for the country. 

Skin in The Game

How many times are we going to sit and listen to politicians from both party claims their interests lie with “the good of the American people” before the American people are completely fed up?  Night after night the Democrats fall back into their comfortable, ergonomically designed chairs at their friendly cable channel at MSNBC and assign the responsibility to their Republican counterparts who are sitting comfortably on the set of FOX news doing the exact same thing. However this particular wound appears to most Americans to have been created exclusively by the far right Republicans.  I find it insulting and disgraceful that almost to a person they can claim they are trying to work for the American people when it’s obvious that they are doing no such thing.  They sit in a bunker, draped in Kevlar while firing shots at the American economy. If it can help them avoid a primary and secure their own political ambitions, why not?  They have no skin in the game!

  There is actually an amendment to the constitution that provides pay and benefits for members of congress in the event of a government shutdown.  Can you believe that?  They cause a shutdown due to their own selfish political goals and they still get paid.  What do you think the consequences would be if their productivity was this low in the private sector?  My guess is that they would be searching the help wanted ads, hoping to find something with a job description that offers great pay, great benefits and expects nothing to be accomplished. Fortunately for them it works differently in Washington D.C., they all know that regardless of how ineffective they may be as members of congress, regardless of the damage they have caused countless American families, when they leave office they will be firmly on the path of financial security.  Speaking fees will be pouring in and lobbying firms will be knocking on the door.  I am sure there are measures we could enact to prevent this type of self serving, childish behavior; term limits, production evaluations, campaign finance reform, responsible lobbying laws, to name a few, but it would never make it through the congress.  It seems that anything that makes even the slightest bit of sense has little or no chance of being signed into law.

So here are the choices confronting republican leaders in the house and senate; stand fast on their extreme ideology, which every economist claims will completely tank the economy or make a deal and risk the dreaded primary from the far right wing.  Career first or Country first?  Some of these so called leaders will hide behind their conveniently gerrymandered districts, but just maybe a few of them will take their job title seriously and actually lead.  We Americans aren’t merely hoping you solve this self inflicted crisis, we expect it. Earn your money!

Nothing To Lose

                Watching the members of congress attempt to deal with this latest Washington fiasco is like watching my two little boys explain how the milk got onto the floor.  They will adamantly point the finger at one another until they both wind up getting punished.  These are elected members of our government yet they continue to act like children.  Sadly that isn’t the main problem we need to address.  Members of congress have been acting like spoiled brats since I began following politics, but this group of over indulged gray haired children have taken it to new levels of selfishness.  This isn’t about ideology and it certainly isn’t about what is best for the country.  Each night we sit in anticipation of some type of compromise, some type of bargain that would relieve the stress that regular Americans feel every time the congress decides to throw a tantrum, but instead it becomes more and more evident that the people who freely roam the halls of our capital touting their concern for the American people will without conscience, send the economy into yet another downward spiral if it means they can satisfy their own political needs.  They can do this because we the people have allowed them to create a system where they can profit regardless of how well they perform.

The issue we need to address is accountability.  We need to hold them accountable when they accomplish nothing or as in this current crisis, when they actually make matters worse.  Suspend their pay when the government shuts down; suspend their health benefits when they can’t work out a budget.  When members of our armed forces can’t even get death benefits serving in defense of our nation, how do we allow the men and women who sent them there to continue to receive theirs?  How do we deal with our children when they don’t do their chores, when they throw themselves on the floor in the supermarket, when they refuse to get along with their siblings? Maybe we should consider sending them all to their rooms without dinner, take away their toys and threaten coal in their Christmas stockings.  Can anyone recommend a child psychiatrist that we can send to the hill?  If that doesn’t work maybe we can tackle campaign finance reform and gerrymandering!