The debt ceiling debacle itself has cost the United States government millions of dollar.
If so, why should not politicians be held accountable for making the government to incur additional debt, besides what they themselves have accused the government of doing; thus the government has incurred so much debt, which was brought on by the overspending of the Obama administration?
Such extra expenditure, on the part of those politicians, who managed to incur it for any reason, would rather increase the National Debt; and if so, must not that be considered a crime by its perpetrators?
Or else, there would be a double standard scenario; one for the Obama government and another for the president's accusers.
Without the debt ceiling debate, which was started by Congressional Republicans, no extra debt would have been racked up in recent months. In other words, such extra debt has come about because of the unnecessary debate, in regard to the debt ceiling. It has been raised several times before; and there has never been any attempt by a group of politicians or any party to actually stop its process.
However, why was there so much fuss or argument about it only recently? It also came about at a time, when the country did not need it, because of the heavy drag that the country's economy was under. By all estimations it (economy) was going awry. So, why at that point?
Moreover, under normal circumstances, there were other important issues, which required immediate attention than the raising of the debt ceiling. So, why did it occur to Congress to devote so much time to deal with it?
Everybody was aware that the United States was already in crisis, due to the recent Middle East and North African uprisings, as they have affected the U.S. economy in many negative ways. It (economy) was struggling to come out of a recession handed over by the previous government, and its slow growth has become a national concern.
Plus the European economic bail outs of Ireland, Spain and lately Greece; the tsunami and nuclear mishaps in Japan, all causing world economies to become unstable, including that of the U.S., to say the least.
Gasoline and food prices were going up; thus the cost of living was climbing higher and higher each and every single day for the average person and his or her family.
It was therefore a mistake for any type of "home-grown" disturbance or altercation, such as the one surrounding the debt ceiling, to develop almost overnight and out of nowhere, and become a national confrontation; and yet it did.
Therefore, should not there be some questions to be asked about the sudden unfavorable atmosphere brought on by the raising of the debt ceiling debate, which would turn out to be so uncompromising to the detriment of the whole nation?
Was it done deliberately? In short, was it fabricated, because the Republicans in Congress wanted to create a fallacious political environment that would make it difficult for President Barack Obama to win his 2012 re-election bid?
They have said publicly that they would do whatever they could to make a second term an impossibility for the president; and could the debt crisis debate be part of a plot to help them achieve their objective planned to deprive him of another term? Was it a plot purposely designed to coincide and therefore interfere with the outcome of the 2012 general election? If so, would not that be against the law?
Some would say that the debate has made it easy for a great number of people to gain an insight into governmental affairs, which ordinary people did not normally do in real life. Yet, as concerned citizens, they should have the chance to engage themselves in civic matters, because they were there for their sake.
However much that was true, it was still beside the point; for it could also be said that it was a plot designed to interfere with the thinking processes of those, who were likely to vote in the forth coming general election. "Let us use this as part of our campaign strategy,", the originators of such a plot would have said to themselves. "It might change the course of history.", they would have added.
Again, it (debate) has been very costly, and it happened at a time, when the country could least afford it. It would therefore be a good idea to set up a panel to investigate its initial origination or cause.
Those who initiated it must be exposed to the general public, as it has done nothing, but caused a waste of precious effort that could have been used to galvanize support for something of greater value, such as internal House and/or Senatorial "seminars" on job creation; and of course, the reduction of the high unemployment rate.
By doing what the perpetrators did, if there were such people, they have caused a great disservice to the nation; and their behavior must not be left to go unpunished, if they were discovered and found guilty of committing such heinous and bizarre act, which constituted a crime from every aspect of the law, be it Constitutional or liberal.
Of course, a panel would also have its cost; but it would be worthwhile, if those people have plotted to put the country through an unnecessary aggravation solely for political reasons; and if so, they must be brought to justice, so that their behavior would not be repeated by any person, group of persons or agents of any political party.
Every ounce of such conduct pointed to the Tea Party members of the Republican Party.
What do you think?
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
AMERICA'S FISCAL PROBLEMS.
The passage of the the debt limit bill by the Congress of the United States yesterday, is just a step in the right direction toward making the nation's finances completely solvent again.
America's fiscal problems are not over yet. The huge amounts that have been borrowed from debtor countries, like China and Japan, over the years must be paid back in full; but it would take more than just the determination to battle out of a pretty bad monetary situation.
Living within its means must be a lesson that should be learned first, as the consumption of world petroleum production, for example, found its way to the United States from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria, in such enormous quantity that 65% of the Net Domestic Product (NDP), in the most part, minimized the Gross Domestic Income (GDI), and made the national economy to become lopsided.
America consumed too much of everything that the rest of the world produced, so that its intake overshadowed its Gross Domestic Income (GDI), and that caused the country's Gross National Product to be under great strain, because what entered the nation as imports outweighed its exports.
Thus, in simple terms, what was used nationally, in the form of goods and services, went beyond what was produced. With that came the trend of all other nations exporting most of their products to the U.S.
That made America the largest economy in the world; a powerhouse that all financial markets around the world measured their performance of growth with, and where they felt safe with their capital investments.
Yet, in the real fiscal atmosphere, with respect to global economic affairs, America was uppity. It had to borrow from those that looked up to its status as the biggest trading giant among all giants. However, that false expectation must be brought to an end from now on.
There must, therefore, be a plan that would curtail the huge expenditure incurred yearly, to balance the vast economic outlay, so as for the borrowing to cease; a plan that would prioritize America's national goals, managing them under strict rules for the economy to grow strong again and become more stabilized than ever before.
It (plan) must be fully geared to paying off the National Debt that presently ran into trillions of dollars, and which must not be left for future generations to inherit.
That should be the first and foremost responsibility of the U.S. government and the lawmakers in Congress.
America's fiscal problems are not over yet. The huge amounts that have been borrowed from debtor countries, like China and Japan, over the years must be paid back in full; but it would take more than just the determination to battle out of a pretty bad monetary situation.
Living within its means must be a lesson that should be learned first, as the consumption of world petroleum production, for example, found its way to the United States from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria, in such enormous quantity that 65% of the Net Domestic Product (NDP), in the most part, minimized the Gross Domestic Income (GDI), and made the national economy to become lopsided.
America consumed too much of everything that the rest of the world produced, so that its intake overshadowed its Gross Domestic Income (GDI), and that caused the country's Gross National Product to be under great strain, because what entered the nation as imports outweighed its exports.
Thus, in simple terms, what was used nationally, in the form of goods and services, went beyond what was produced. With that came the trend of all other nations exporting most of their products to the U.S.
That made America the largest economy in the world; a powerhouse that all financial markets around the world measured their performance of growth with, and where they felt safe with their capital investments.
Yet, in the real fiscal atmosphere, with respect to global economic affairs, America was uppity. It had to borrow from those that looked up to its status as the biggest trading giant among all giants. However, that false expectation must be brought to an end from now on.
There must, therefore, be a plan that would curtail the huge expenditure incurred yearly, to balance the vast economic outlay, so as for the borrowing to cease; a plan that would prioritize America's national goals, managing them under strict rules for the economy to grow strong again and become more stabilized than ever before.
It (plan) must be fully geared to paying off the National Debt that presently ran into trillions of dollars, and which must not be left for future generations to inherit.
That should be the first and foremost responsibility of the U.S. government and the lawmakers in Congress.
Monday, August 1, 2011
DEFAULT AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
Whatever happens on August 2nd., 2011, the Republican Party will never be the same again. It will be ineffective in controlling its membership, and although, its core beliefs and principles will not dramatically change, they will have so much political drain on them, and as such will become illusive. Will it be a bipolar party or one with several aspects of corrective views congregating under the same umbrella?
Another question will be, what is the party's objective, with respect to being in opposition to the government at any given time? Will it be constructive, and will it be capable of the huge responsibility of governing effectively, when it comes its turn; and whether its leadership will be able to be in total control of its affairs, instead of allowing the lower rank of the party to become more influential in drawing up and/or deciding policies that will propel it (party) into the future?
In other words, nobody will know what the Republican Party stands for, rather than it being the Grand Old Party, whose ambition and the true meaning of its existence is to see that the government is not the ultimate power, but the people. That obviously is the main attraction of the party; but will it remain so?
The fear of that philosophy becoming sour will, however, be a subject for research by political historians, due to the infiltration of a new element of people, who have entered the party through desperation; and by using a unilateral and physical aspersion (the act of defaming) on its opponents out of baseless accusations, in conducting public discourse, which is now seeing the light of day.
The new members are challenging the old guard and discerning the ominous fact that it is about time for a new outlook of the party. Its (leadership's) views are archaic, and that it must learn to attack its opponents ferociously and leave them very little wiggle room for any type of compromise.
That happens to be a snap shot of the Republican Party, with the so called Tea Party activists, who have brought so much confusion to the talks about the United State government wanting to raise the debt ceiling to cover the national expenditure. They (activists) are taking a more noticeable stand within the main party.
They maintain that they have been elected to Congress on the premise that the government is overspending, and their responsibility is to get it (government) to curb that behavioral attitude, because it is doing nothing, but increasing the national debt, which will be left for future generations to tackle; and to them, that seems to be rather unfair in their estimation.
Yet, during the discussions, debates and the meetings in Congress and at the White House, the national debt, though a formidable factor affecting the country's economy, has not been mentioned even once.
That goes to show how out of touch the Tea Party is, with respect to political topics that need to be given immediate attention by lawmakers. Although, the national debt is important, but the issue that requires to be taken care of is, in the immediate sense of the word, the debt limit that is insufficient to afford the Federal Government a chance of not defaulting on its due debt payments; and therefore it must be increased.
Thus, the main issue continues to be America's default on its payments, which will throw its economy into a tailspin and cause other world financial markets to destabilize. With the U.S. being the largest world economy, the impact of default will be disastrous, and therefore it will be irresponsible for it (U.S.) to allow a default.
To start with, Investment capital will dwindle almost overnight, as investors will be happy to sit on the fence and wait for the danger of default to pass by. That will be to the detriment of the fragile American economy under the Obama administration.
Economists predict that the value of the dollar will diminish, and interest rates will rise to make all financial transactions costly for all kinds of industries and businesses, who are ready to expand and therefore will need loans to do so. They will be willing to hire more workers, but circumstances will make that impossible, due to the overwhelming restrictions that the financial institutions will have to impose on themselves ; thus causing unemployment to skyrocket beyond the present rate of 9.2%.
The outcome of such a disaster happening will not be a good one internally and also all around the globe. However, in all honesty, the people that must be held responsible for it will be the Tea Party members in Congress. They have managed to come up with a strange resistance that will prevent the government from paying its bills; a scenario that has never occurred before in American history.
Perhaps, they have surmised that by their own actions they will never come back to Washington D.C. again after the next batch of elections. Yet, the horrible fear about them is that they are prepared to take the country down with them. That fear is also being entertained by many Americans; and what makes that feeling so terrifying is that they (Tea-partiers) seem to be unperturbed. Let the imminent gloom swirl around them and they will be emotionally aloof, with much dignity, of course.
They must, however, be aware that their participation in American politics has so far been negative, since their dubious entry on the political scene in the lame duck session of the current Congress in the November elections of 2010.
Their aim, they tell us, is to stop government from overspending; but they have failed to prove their point. They have been using that as a pretext to remove President Barack Obama from the presidency; and that is what they intend doing.
The true fact is that America is involved in two wars against terrorism, which must be paid for.
Now, by all their activities, the Tea Party members are seen as opting for a government default; and let America suffer the consequences. However, is that the right thing for them to do?
Such an attitude brings their patriotism into question. Do they love America; or do they want to see the Obama administration out of power, come what may?
The latter part of the question is quite obvious, that they want Obama to go; but they have to think about the former part of it as well, as their collective action of permitting default by their "NO" vote in Congress to reach a compromise to resolve the debt crisis that the country is grappling with presently, will farther destroy not only America's economy; but also its international reputation as a bastion of integrity. If they do so, will not that be a real shame?
To the rest of us, America does not have to default. It must never happen.
So, what have they (Tea Party members) to say for themselves? The nation is waiting.
Another question will be, what is the party's objective, with respect to being in opposition to the government at any given time? Will it be constructive, and will it be capable of the huge responsibility of governing effectively, when it comes its turn; and whether its leadership will be able to be in total control of its affairs, instead of allowing the lower rank of the party to become more influential in drawing up and/or deciding policies that will propel it (party) into the future?
In other words, nobody will know what the Republican Party stands for, rather than it being the Grand Old Party, whose ambition and the true meaning of its existence is to see that the government is not the ultimate power, but the people. That obviously is the main attraction of the party; but will it remain so?
The fear of that philosophy becoming sour will, however, be a subject for research by political historians, due to the infiltration of a new element of people, who have entered the party through desperation; and by using a unilateral and physical aspersion (the act of defaming) on its opponents out of baseless accusations, in conducting public discourse, which is now seeing the light of day.
The new members are challenging the old guard and discerning the ominous fact that it is about time for a new outlook of the party. Its (leadership's) views are archaic, and that it must learn to attack its opponents ferociously and leave them very little wiggle room for any type of compromise.
That happens to be a snap shot of the Republican Party, with the so called Tea Party activists, who have brought so much confusion to the talks about the United State government wanting to raise the debt ceiling to cover the national expenditure. They (activists) are taking a more noticeable stand within the main party.
They maintain that they have been elected to Congress on the premise that the government is overspending, and their responsibility is to get it (government) to curb that behavioral attitude, because it is doing nothing, but increasing the national debt, which will be left for future generations to tackle; and to them, that seems to be rather unfair in their estimation.
Yet, during the discussions, debates and the meetings in Congress and at the White House, the national debt, though a formidable factor affecting the country's economy, has not been mentioned even once.
That goes to show how out of touch the Tea Party is, with respect to political topics that need to be given immediate attention by lawmakers. Although, the national debt is important, but the issue that requires to be taken care of is, in the immediate sense of the word, the debt limit that is insufficient to afford the Federal Government a chance of not defaulting on its due debt payments; and therefore it must be increased.
Thus, the main issue continues to be America's default on its payments, which will throw its economy into a tailspin and cause other world financial markets to destabilize. With the U.S. being the largest world economy, the impact of default will be disastrous, and therefore it will be irresponsible for it (U.S.) to allow a default.
To start with, Investment capital will dwindle almost overnight, as investors will be happy to sit on the fence and wait for the danger of default to pass by. That will be to the detriment of the fragile American economy under the Obama administration.
Economists predict that the value of the dollar will diminish, and interest rates will rise to make all financial transactions costly for all kinds of industries and businesses, who are ready to expand and therefore will need loans to do so. They will be willing to hire more workers, but circumstances will make that impossible, due to the overwhelming restrictions that the financial institutions will have to impose on themselves ; thus causing unemployment to skyrocket beyond the present rate of 9.2%.
The outcome of such a disaster happening will not be a good one internally and also all around the globe. However, in all honesty, the people that must be held responsible for it will be the Tea Party members in Congress. They have managed to come up with a strange resistance that will prevent the government from paying its bills; a scenario that has never occurred before in American history.
Perhaps, they have surmised that by their own actions they will never come back to Washington D.C. again after the next batch of elections. Yet, the horrible fear about them is that they are prepared to take the country down with them. That fear is also being entertained by many Americans; and what makes that feeling so terrifying is that they (Tea-partiers) seem to be unperturbed. Let the imminent gloom swirl around them and they will be emotionally aloof, with much dignity, of course.
They must, however, be aware that their participation in American politics has so far been negative, since their dubious entry on the political scene in the lame duck session of the current Congress in the November elections of 2010.
Their aim, they tell us, is to stop government from overspending; but they have failed to prove their point. They have been using that as a pretext to remove President Barack Obama from the presidency; and that is what they intend doing.
The true fact is that America is involved in two wars against terrorism, which must be paid for.
Now, by all their activities, the Tea Party members are seen as opting for a government default; and let America suffer the consequences. However, is that the right thing for them to do?
Such an attitude brings their patriotism into question. Do they love America; or do they want to see the Obama administration out of power, come what may?
The latter part of the question is quite obvious, that they want Obama to go; but they have to think about the former part of it as well, as their collective action of permitting default by their "NO" vote in Congress to reach a compromise to resolve the debt crisis that the country is grappling with presently, will farther destroy not only America's economy; but also its international reputation as a bastion of integrity. If they do so, will not that be a real shame?
To the rest of us, America does not have to default. It must never happen.
So, what have they (Tea Party members) to say for themselves? The nation is waiting.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
THE LOOMING DEBT CRISIS.
Americans know what the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John Boehner's bill that has just been passed in the House, is. It is a one sided compromise; a smoke and mirror composition of the same bill, which has come by another name of "Cut, Cap and Balance", only a few days back.
The White House and the Democratic party has rejected it, and they would continue to repudiate it. It was the same or an identical one that Senator Harry Reid, Democratic Majority leader in the Senate has tabled. He himself has prepared another plan that his Democratic colleagues favored.
He has done so for just one reason and one reason only, that a real compromise might be reached within the next few hours, from twenty-four to forty-eight hours. That has become a rare window of opportunity for lawmakers to come together on a bi-partisan basis to remedy the debt ceiling crisis; and they must find a way to make use of it.
Any other avenue would just be a waste of time, as the August 2nd. deadline of default approached stealthily.
Investment companies, banks, financial and business corporations of all kinds have come out almost in one voice to decry the result that would present itself, if America failed to meet its debt obligations by allowing the deadline to pass by. The consequence would create an unbearable atmosphere for them, not only within the country, but also outside the United States.
In other words, it was not just a U.S. economic crisis, but a global one that would affect all financial markets. It would be a worldwide problem, whose outcome would be unfavorable all around. Something must therefore be done forthwith, before that "window" closed.
Congressional procedure would have a joint committee examining the Reid and Boehner plans to find a common ground for an agreement between the two, and then compose a new bill that would pass in the Senate as well as in the House.
President Barack Obama has reiterated the shortness of time for a solution to emerge, as he has personally urged the American public at large to call those who represented the nation in Congress, and asked them to put politics aside in their attempt to stop the financial destruction that would ensue, if America defaulted.
He has also clarified the U.S. position, in no uncertain terms, as being the biggest economic market, and it must do whatever it possibly could to calm the jitters that other markets were experiencing, because of what was taking place locally.
Otherwise, things would get out of hand, as the situations in Greece, Spain and other such places; and that would not be, for that matter, in the best interest of anyone or any country concerned.
America must retain its high trade/credit rating to ensure that capital investments were safe in the country, and that investors must continue to rely on the availability of the vast opportunities that have been made for them to thrive economically in the past.
With such assurances, big corporations and companies would begin to hire people for the dismal unemployment rate of 9.2% to reduce. The economy would bounce back to enable Americans to breathe freely once more.
This must be the time when Congress stood out to defend the nation's reputation, and its resilience to remain a stronghold that world financial markets and institutions have come to depend and count on; and it must do so by passing a bill that could be signed by president Obama into law to resolve the issue.
The looming debt crisis would then be behind the U.S.
The White House and the Democratic party has rejected it, and they would continue to repudiate it. It was the same or an identical one that Senator Harry Reid, Democratic Majority leader in the Senate has tabled. He himself has prepared another plan that his Democratic colleagues favored.
He has done so for just one reason and one reason only, that a real compromise might be reached within the next few hours, from twenty-four to forty-eight hours. That has become a rare window of opportunity for lawmakers to come together on a bi-partisan basis to remedy the debt ceiling crisis; and they must find a way to make use of it.
Any other avenue would just be a waste of time, as the August 2nd. deadline of default approached stealthily.
Investment companies, banks, financial and business corporations of all kinds have come out almost in one voice to decry the result that would present itself, if America failed to meet its debt obligations by allowing the deadline to pass by. The consequence would create an unbearable atmosphere for them, not only within the country, but also outside the United States.
In other words, it was not just a U.S. economic crisis, but a global one that would affect all financial markets. It would be a worldwide problem, whose outcome would be unfavorable all around. Something must therefore be done forthwith, before that "window" closed.
Congressional procedure would have a joint committee examining the Reid and Boehner plans to find a common ground for an agreement between the two, and then compose a new bill that would pass in the Senate as well as in the House.
President Barack Obama has reiterated the shortness of time for a solution to emerge, as he has personally urged the American public at large to call those who represented the nation in Congress, and asked them to put politics aside in their attempt to stop the financial destruction that would ensue, if America defaulted.
He has also clarified the U.S. position, in no uncertain terms, as being the biggest economic market, and it must do whatever it possibly could to calm the jitters that other markets were experiencing, because of what was taking place locally.
Otherwise, things would get out of hand, as the situations in Greece, Spain and other such places; and that would not be, for that matter, in the best interest of anyone or any country concerned.
America must retain its high trade/credit rating to ensure that capital investments were safe in the country, and that investors must continue to rely on the availability of the vast opportunities that have been made for them to thrive economically in the past.
With such assurances, big corporations and companies would begin to hire people for the dismal unemployment rate of 9.2% to reduce. The economy would bounce back to enable Americans to breathe freely once more.
This must be the time when Congress stood out to defend the nation's reputation, and its resilience to remain a stronghold that world financial markets and institutions have come to depend and count on; and it must do so by passing a bill that could be signed by president Obama into law to resolve the issue.
The looming debt crisis would then be behind the U.S.
Friday, July 29, 2011
DEBT CRISIS AND COMMON SENSE.
Common sense is stitll a rare commodity in Washington D.C.; but that is all the people that are bickering over the debt ceiling need.
One side sees the country falling into a ditch, which is the deadline date of August 2nd., 2011, when America will default on making its debt payments; and so, it must do whatever it takes to avoid such an occurrence; while the other side surmises that it is an opportunity to do away with a government that is too left-wing to the point of it being socialistic.
The Democratic Party wants a compromise to deal with the debt ceiling crisis, but the Republican Party is engaged in finding a solution of bringing the government and its policies down before too long.
Thus, the two factions are not concerned about the same things, or they are more akin to strongly connecting with political ideologies; except that they are in the same forum and talking over each other's head.
The country then becomes a victim of circumstances, because nobody is actually making any serious effort to get it out of trouble; as there are those, who want it (country) to sweat it out, come what may.
President Barack Obama has done all he can to persuade the United States Congress of an impending fiscal calamity, and for it (Congress) to use every means necessary to avert it. The onus to do whatever it can then falls in the hands of the people's representatives, to save the country.
Yet, there are members, who are in the majority and wish that the situation will work in their favor, and force him (Obama) to be on the losing side; with him taking all the blame for the country's economic difficulties, and eventually becoming the fall guy, so to speak.
Presently, it is going to take a miracle for a compromise to be reached; however, it seems so simplistic to realize that, all there is left to do is to have Senate Mojority leader Harry Reid's plan to be laid along side the one being proposed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner, and for a special joint Congressional committee to figure out how the two plans can be merged to resolve the problem.
Time is even running out for that window of opportunity, as die hard right-wing party members, who profess that they had been elected to come to the Capitol to stop the runaway spending of the Obama administration; and that they will choose to be strong headed and partisan, instead of being open minded for the sake of the country's financial future, are permitted to gain the upper hand. They are intentionally showing that they prefer to stick to their guns, and "let the chips fall where they may."
However, to many of us, "Our way, or the highway" attitude of their's must be set aside.
They have every right to stick to their party's policies; but at this critical moment, when all there is to be done is to have a little bit of common sense to prevail; and that, all they need to do is to put country before party, they must at least grant the country a chance to come out from under the current economic recession.
That will give them a breathing space for them to function properly, and be able to deal with other matters that are bound to follow.
The slogan now has to be one that says, "We can work it out" or "We will all win together or we will all perish together, for we are all in it together".
Allowing politics to run amok as usual will be dangerous not only to themselves, but to all Americans.
One side sees the country falling into a ditch, which is the deadline date of August 2nd., 2011, when America will default on making its debt payments; and so, it must do whatever it takes to avoid such an occurrence; while the other side surmises that it is an opportunity to do away with a government that is too left-wing to the point of it being socialistic.
The Democratic Party wants a compromise to deal with the debt ceiling crisis, but the Republican Party is engaged in finding a solution of bringing the government and its policies down before too long.
Thus, the two factions are not concerned about the same things, or they are more akin to strongly connecting with political ideologies; except that they are in the same forum and talking over each other's head.
The country then becomes a victim of circumstances, because nobody is actually making any serious effort to get it out of trouble; as there are those, who want it (country) to sweat it out, come what may.
President Barack Obama has done all he can to persuade the United States Congress of an impending fiscal calamity, and for it (Congress) to use every means necessary to avert it. The onus to do whatever it can then falls in the hands of the people's representatives, to save the country.
Yet, there are members, who are in the majority and wish that the situation will work in their favor, and force him (Obama) to be on the losing side; with him taking all the blame for the country's economic difficulties, and eventually becoming the fall guy, so to speak.
Presently, it is going to take a miracle for a compromise to be reached; however, it seems so simplistic to realize that, all there is left to do is to have Senate Mojority leader Harry Reid's plan to be laid along side the one being proposed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner, and for a special joint Congressional committee to figure out how the two plans can be merged to resolve the problem.
Time is even running out for that window of opportunity, as die hard right-wing party members, who profess that they had been elected to come to the Capitol to stop the runaway spending of the Obama administration; and that they will choose to be strong headed and partisan, instead of being open minded for the sake of the country's financial future, are permitted to gain the upper hand. They are intentionally showing that they prefer to stick to their guns, and "let the chips fall where they may."
However, to many of us, "Our way, or the highway" attitude of their's must be set aside.
They have every right to stick to their party's policies; but at this critical moment, when all there is to be done is to have a little bit of common sense to prevail; and that, all they need to do is to put country before party, they must at least grant the country a chance to come out from under the current economic recession.
That will give them a breathing space for them to function properly, and be able to deal with other matters that are bound to follow.
The slogan now has to be one that says, "We can work it out" or "We will all win together or we will all perish together, for we are all in it together".
Allowing politics to run amok as usual will be dangerous not only to themselves, but to all Americans.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
A DEFAULT.
Congressional Republicans know by now what President Barack Obama will sign into law, and therefore, their efforts to stop the United States from falling into a fiscal abyss, as many leading economists are predicting, if a default occurs by the deadline date of August 2nd. 2011, must be geared to making sure that the new Boehner plan, which is scheduled to be voted on today, receives the accord that the White House is expecting.
It must have a balanced approach by the inclusion of revenues that will help in the deficit reduction, which the whole country is looking forward to seeing; as cutting alone into social programs will not be considered as being fair to the elderly and the needy.
That it (plan) will prevent America from losing its high trade/credit rating, and calm the jitters in the overall global economy, and thereby make for a peaceful conclusion to the nation's financial state, for it to remain a citadel of economic stability that the world wants.
It is true that the plan will not be appreciated by Democrats in the Senate, who have already sent a letter to condemn it; but they also have another plan by Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, that can be aligned with the Boehner plan for a common ground to be found.
Many believe that a merger of the two plans will lead to a compromise and a solution to the problem at hand; and that is what the United States Congress must aspire to achieve.
However, time is of the essence, and so, lawmakers cannot afford to sit on their hands and continue to stir the current deadlock in the face. That will not help anyone, as it will rather harden the resolve of a few die hard left-wing and right-wing members of both parties and make matters worse than before.
All the polls show that, what the country needs is a compromise to resolve the immediate problem of default. There will be plenty of time to deal with other issues that are also pressing.
Yet, presently, Congress must do what it is supposed to do to relieve the pressure on the country's fragile economy to enable companies and corporations to start hiring again, in order for the stiff unemployment rate to go down.
To get the economy to come out from under the stressful nature of the financial problems the country now finds itself is what industries, investment companies and Wall Street want.
As for the uneasiness in world financial markets, they are relating their source of that (uneasiness) to what is happening in America.
They (markets) are wondering why the U.S. is failing to act positively to avert a disaster that will be felt around the globe. They cannot stand the prevailing uncertainty; and as a result their points and averages are falling, not almost, but daily.
In short, the U.S. must not default; it has never done so before. To allow it to happen now will have a far reaching, negative result; and that is the only reason, Congress needs to function in the best way possible.
It must have a balanced approach by the inclusion of revenues that will help in the deficit reduction, which the whole country is looking forward to seeing; as cutting alone into social programs will not be considered as being fair to the elderly and the needy.
That it (plan) will prevent America from losing its high trade/credit rating, and calm the jitters in the overall global economy, and thereby make for a peaceful conclusion to the nation's financial state, for it to remain a citadel of economic stability that the world wants.
It is true that the plan will not be appreciated by Democrats in the Senate, who have already sent a letter to condemn it; but they also have another plan by Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, that can be aligned with the Boehner plan for a common ground to be found.
Many believe that a merger of the two plans will lead to a compromise and a solution to the problem at hand; and that is what the United States Congress must aspire to achieve.
However, time is of the essence, and so, lawmakers cannot afford to sit on their hands and continue to stir the current deadlock in the face. That will not help anyone, as it will rather harden the resolve of a few die hard left-wing and right-wing members of both parties and make matters worse than before.
All the polls show that, what the country needs is a compromise to resolve the immediate problem of default. There will be plenty of time to deal with other issues that are also pressing.
Yet, presently, Congress must do what it is supposed to do to relieve the pressure on the country's fragile economy to enable companies and corporations to start hiring again, in order for the stiff unemployment rate to go down.
To get the economy to come out from under the stressful nature of the financial problems the country now finds itself is what industries, investment companies and Wall Street want.
As for the uneasiness in world financial markets, they are relating their source of that (uneasiness) to what is happening in America.
They (markets) are wondering why the U.S. is failing to act positively to avert a disaster that will be felt around the globe. They cannot stand the prevailing uncertainty; and as a result their points and averages are falling, not almost, but daily.
In short, the U.S. must not default; it has never done so before. To allow it to happen now will have a far reaching, negative result; and that is the only reason, Congress needs to function in the best way possible.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
OBAMA'S RACE.
The Republican Party's zeal for the United States government to default, by all intents and purposes, seems not just political, but also racial.
Its leaders know that pushing the so called "deadlock" past August 2nd., will cause extensive damage, not only to the country's sluggish economy, but it will destroy the reputation the U.S. has in world financial circles.
It would make the U.S. dollar less valuable, which in effect would bring about inflation and high cost of living; and that would be the lesser part of how foreboding things would look like.
Besides, Wall Street would "sneeze", which would put main street on notice that a downturn of the economy was about to happen; and with it would farther exacerbate the present recession, and make unemployment levels and interest rates to rise; thus increasing the financial hardships for the general public at large.
The public, however, is led to believe that the Republican Party has plans, such as the "Cut, Cap and Balance" to present as a political peace maker to ward off the impending catastrophe that the failure of raising the debt ceiling will bring. Wrong!
Their thoughts are the reverse, for they are earnestly looking forward to seeing America defaulting, and putting the blame on the people who think that anything they (Republicans) have to offer is just a ruse.
The membership has even gone to the extent of denying that "default" would affect anything adversely, and that there was enough money to cover all government expenses, like military payments and Social Security. Therefore all the fear mongering about the outcome of it (default) was false.
Yet, the whole world knew that if the U.S. failed to honor its debt payments just for once, it would have a devastating economic effect on all monetary markets around the globe. It would be the first time that the one currency, which came next in value to gold, has been deliberately allowed to sink, all by itself.
With all that going on, President Barack Obama would personally be blamed, and his government would be condemned for policies unbecoming of the U.S.
The truth would be that his detractors have planned all along that whatever slight chance that came their way, they would use it to derail the Obama administration. That went to show that the animosity toward the president went beyond the ordinary, as having a problem with a person, but also his race must be considered as part of it (problem).
Therefore, the best avenue to use to get rid of him was to place stumbling blocks in his path. For the first time around, America has defaulted under an administration, which happened to have an African American at its head. Nevertheless, would not that be surprising to notice that such happenstance would not be permitted to occur under any other president?
The Republicans really did not want Obama to succeed; and they would organize, as well as muster every effort in the vein, to disgrace him, because of his race. They would do so, and "let the chips fall where they may" for the whole country. In all that, their charlatan attitude toward the debt crisis could not be overlooked or even be underestimated.
It may be a wild speculation; however, is Obama's race in question? Think about it.
Its leaders know that pushing the so called "deadlock" past August 2nd., will cause extensive damage, not only to the country's sluggish economy, but it will destroy the reputation the U.S. has in world financial circles.
It would make the U.S. dollar less valuable, which in effect would bring about inflation and high cost of living; and that would be the lesser part of how foreboding things would look like.
Besides, Wall Street would "sneeze", which would put main street on notice that a downturn of the economy was about to happen; and with it would farther exacerbate the present recession, and make unemployment levels and interest rates to rise; thus increasing the financial hardships for the general public at large.
The public, however, is led to believe that the Republican Party has plans, such as the "Cut, Cap and Balance" to present as a political peace maker to ward off the impending catastrophe that the failure of raising the debt ceiling will bring. Wrong!
Their thoughts are the reverse, for they are earnestly looking forward to seeing America defaulting, and putting the blame on the people who think that anything they (Republicans) have to offer is just a ruse.
The membership has even gone to the extent of denying that "default" would affect anything adversely, and that there was enough money to cover all government expenses, like military payments and Social Security. Therefore all the fear mongering about the outcome of it (default) was false.
Yet, the whole world knew that if the U.S. failed to honor its debt payments just for once, it would have a devastating economic effect on all monetary markets around the globe. It would be the first time that the one currency, which came next in value to gold, has been deliberately allowed to sink, all by itself.
With all that going on, President Barack Obama would personally be blamed, and his government would be condemned for policies unbecoming of the U.S.
The truth would be that his detractors have planned all along that whatever slight chance that came their way, they would use it to derail the Obama administration. That went to show that the animosity toward the president went beyond the ordinary, as having a problem with a person, but also his race must be considered as part of it (problem).
Therefore, the best avenue to use to get rid of him was to place stumbling blocks in his path. For the first time around, America has defaulted under an administration, which happened to have an African American at its head. Nevertheless, would not that be surprising to notice that such happenstance would not be permitted to occur under any other president?
The Republicans really did not want Obama to succeed; and they would organize, as well as muster every effort in the vein, to disgrace him, because of his race. They would do so, and "let the chips fall where they may" for the whole country. In all that, their charlatan attitude toward the debt crisis could not be overlooked or even be underestimated.
It may be a wild speculation; however, is Obama's race in question? Think about it.
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