Saturday, November 26, 2011

Wah! Wah!

Pity the poor Congress critter: at least that's the message members of the 112th Congress are currently peddling, according to this article:

To its many issues — dysfunction, occasionally impaired judgment, an inability to get things done — Congress can add one more: Low self-esteem.

Following yet another failure to come up with a plan to reduce deficits, the mood on Capitol Hill has switched from frustration and disillusionment to open self-loathing. Few came forward to defend the "super committee's" decision to deadlock rather than agree to a deal on the deficit. ...

In the self-flagellation is a mix of frustration and empathy — an attempt to show voters that lawmakers understand why people don't like them. They feel your pain. You think watching them flail and flounder to accomplish once-routine tasks is hard? Try being a part of it.


Oh, please. Somebody call the wahmbulance.

With all the finger pointing going on, somebody's gonna lose an eye.

The Republicans blame the Democrats for being recalcitrant, for refusing to face the fact that more government is too expensive and too intrusive. The 2010 elections were proof that Americans wanted less spending and more belt-tightening at the top. Tax hikes while Americans face 9% unemployment will only make things worse because employers won't be able to afford new workers and their share of payroll taxes. Cutting taxes on those who could generate jobs is the only way, yet the Democrats insist on including higher taxes with each proposal.

The Democrats blame the Republicans for being obstructionist. Scores of administration appointments still haven't been confirmed and aren't likely to be. Because most members of the GOP have pledged fealty to their monarch, Grover Norquist, funding for any kind of economic relief via any kind of tax hikes are out of the question. What did the Dems expect when the Senate Minority Leader made it explicitly and abundantly clear that the primary goal of his party was the denial of a second term to President Obama?

And so very little got done except the health care reform bill, which primarily benefits the insurance industry and doesn't contain a public option, an extension to the tax break for the wealthy, and a tiny sliver of the jobs bill which only passed because it contained the magic word "veterans."

What all of this inaction showed is that neither party is capable of governing, nor wants to. They'd rather take pot shots at each other while dialing for dollars to fund their next campaigns. And that means both parties will be working for those who benefit from the inaction, the 1% who like things just the way they are, rather than the 99% of us who are struggling to keep from drowning.

A pox on both of their houses.

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home