I usually don’t listen to NPR. Too stuffy in their liberal views – the preppy college kid who acts as though they are really giving back because they notice the poor slums and the starving children on the other side of the world, hell, they’ll even go talk to them. As with any all politically-slanted media, it only portrays one aspect of the going-ons in the world and only tries to appeal to one corner of listeners. I do, however, really dig that chick with the English accent. I don’t know what she is talking about, I just get all mushy at the sound of her Britified, whispery voice – thanks, Mel…
But in the country roads of Indiana, when nothing else but country music even remotely cackles on the car radio, there wasn’t too much choice to listen and pay attention. On the way to the surprise birthday celebration of an elderized lady, with the Missus having nodded off, I had nothing else to focus on. And the topic of the week is the troubles Congress is having with rasing the debt ceiling. There is no explanation on what it all is about, and I have been avoiding news, on both the national and local fronts, for the past few months as I re-assimilate. But it is a national debt ceiling, pretty easy to figure out. The talk is about who in the country, which citizens will be short-changed because there isn’t enough money to go around. Some little old lady in Iowa. A firefighter in Texas. Border patrol guards in Arizona. The regular people. No mention of politicians at all, without consideration that one of their paychecks will cover for three of the people’s needs. That would be ludicrous, of course.
Congress is at a stalemate, a filibuster, as the Republicans will not pass the proposals the Democrats put on the table in reference to a higher debt ceiling. There is not clear declaration on who the debt is to – taxpayers, other nationalities, corporations? – which I think should be an important consideration. Is it that big a deal if we owe it back to our own pockets? What are other countries going to do it we decide to not pay on their schedule? What do the Republicans want in order to pass the movement? What necessities are in the air that make such a raising needed? Because, usually, I see a lot of politicians asking for money for issues that should have been handled differently: if funds were not mis-used, then more funds would not need to be beggared for. Of course, of course.
And those gray-suited bastards are hard at work over the weekend, trying to hammer out a deal that both parties can agree to, while Barry is on the golf course saying how the Republicans are against him, are against us all.
I bring this up because, listening to all this talk about how our economy hangs in the balance, how our way of life depends on this higher debt ceiling (which, if you consider it, is the NEW American Way of Life: Live on Credit and Put the Receipts in a Shoebox), I didn’t hear any talk about how much money we are handing out to the Middle East so that they can rebuild. I didn’t hear a word on how much money we give away, based on someone else’s decisions, to countries that have learned it is easier for them to scratch by on hand-outs than it is to knuckle down and be responsible for themselves. Nothing said about the debts we owe to countries that have reneged on their own promises and debts.
The United States has focused too much, for too long, on being a global presence, and it is time to reign that back in and take care of our own yard. As a parental unit, the United States would have lost custody long ago, and may have gotten lucky with supervised visitation rights, but as a national force, it is left to self-implode, along with its citizenry.
Here’s a thought: every move a Congressman or Senator makes is recorded and reported to those citizens he or she answers to. If it is a decision those voters dislike, that can be made immediately. Screw this writing the Congressman a letter that gets read and laughed at by some underpaid aide; there should be a forum made available that shows every move there in Washington and what the general public thinks of it. Maybe if the opinions and wishes of the public were honestly known, the politicians would move in a direction that truly focuses on this country, or give reasons why such decisions are unwise.
After today’s shin-dig, I want to read more on this debt ceiling and I will follow this up as soon as I can. With more blind opinions, name-calling, and ingratuity, of course.