Christian Debt Recovery

Senate Debt Ceiling Debate

June 21st, 2009 |

Author: Gavin

The Inmates Have Taken Over the Asylum

Who made the decision that what we witnessed over the past 30 days or so is an example of good government?

Now that they have finally reached an agreement, the politicians will all congratulate each other over having prevented our government from disaster. Now that they have prevented our country from a horrific and cataclysmic default, politicians actually do look like a bunch of inmates who have gained control of an insane asylum.

Played out against a staggering debt of $14 trillion and a stubborn unemployment rate between nine and ten percent, the so-called debt and budget debate that we have just lived through, once and for all exposed the enduring quagmire in our nation’s capital.

It was created by an electorate that sent two very different messages to our political leaders in the elections of 2008 and 2010 and aggravated by a President who first tried to spend our way out of the economic mess created by his predecessor and then became a deficit hawk as a response to a Republican Party mired deep in its own identity crisis—whether to compromise or play havoc with our country’s safety and solvency by assuming a position of heretofore unparalleled un-compromise.

However Democratic and Republican spin doctors portray the political victories they are sure to claim, the reality is that we are all stuck in a political system destined for even more gridlock with the only hope in sight possibly coming from the 2012 elections—as long as voters return government to one-party rule.

Charles Cook, a senior political analyst for the National Journal observed “Never in my memory have both parties and both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue appeared as dysfunctional as they do today. The stakes are so high and the performance is so utterly disappointing.”

What is most frustrating is that the final deal negotiated this past Sunday will leave until later the major challenges of Social Security, the Defense budget and Medicare. I suppose that removes the whole “kicking the can down the road” thing from the dialogue.

President Obama struggled throughout this entire debate primarily because he came late to the dance. After spending the initial two years of his presidency pushing for greater federal stimulus to address the disastrous effects of the recession that his administration inherited, he failed to keep his eye on the deficit ball, passed to him right down the middle by his own bipartisan commission, nor did he propose any significant deficit reduction strategies in his budget proposals to Congress this past February. In fact, that budget proposal projected debt rising by $9 million over the next decade.

I was among those who supported the stimulus and my only complaint was that it was not large enough. I still believe in that position. A larger stimulus would have created the kind of economic stability that would have among other things, took a huge bite out of unemployment. Instead, the stimulus sputtered and only had a minimal and short-lived impact on the economy.

When the Republicans came to power in 2010, the newly energized Tea Party wing of the GOP in the House demanded offsetting spending cuts over the next ten years to match any increase in the debt ceiling. It was then that the Obama White House rushed to the fray and entered into negotiations.

The President pressed for tax increases along with spending cuts, but the Tea Party said no. He brought Republican leaders to the White House for talks, but Speaker John Boehner and Majority Whip Eric Cantor said they could not negotiate with the President. President Obama then turned to his VP, Joe Biden due to his many years of experience in the U.S. Senate and those talks fizzled.

Also, lurking in the background at the White House, was the ever-constant reminder that the President was losing the left wing of the Democratic Party and the Independent voter leading up to an election in 2012 that will more than likely be a very close one.

Polls did show that a majority of Americans sided with Obama in arguing for higher taxes from wealthy Americans, yet despite frequent public speeches to press that position, President Obama’s approval ratings continued to plummet, finally bottoming out at around 40 percent—the lowest in his presidency thus far.

The Tea Party however should not break out the champagne just yet. While 41 percent of Americans approved of the President’s budget/debt talks, only 31 percent approved of the performance of House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)and a mere 23 percent approved of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev).

The debate also exposed the fault lines running through the GOP between its established members and the upstart Tea Party members. “It’s time for tough love,” said Rep. Michele Bachmann, (R-Minn) who heads the Tea Party House caucus and is a GOP candidate for President. The fault lines within the Party were further exacerbated by Boehner’s inability to herd Tea Party Republicans into submission because not only were they elected by non-establishment Republican voters they actually defeated mainstream Republicans for their seats.

In the final analysis however, the spectacle we all just witnessed in Congress this past month is more about the great divide that separates Republicans and Democrats (and also some Republicans from each other) than it is about the performance of the Obama administration.

That I think will make for one helluva election season.

About the Author

I am a 62 year old married father and grandfather who lives in Wilmington, Delaware. As I approach the home stretch of life, I feel that myriad experiences I have had provides me with the perspective of one who has been there. This does not mean that I think I know it all. I eagerly look forward to learning something new each day, but more than six decades of life has taught me to share what I know, think and feel with others.