Each state should be beholden to their citizens. texas obviously has some work to do. However every state on that list is a piker when compared to the feds fiscal irresponsibility.
I repeat...shame on us and shame on ANY of you that are so damned irresponsible that you endorse continuing to push our debt off on our grandchildren and great grandchildren. Me...I'm pissed. You should be too. But hey...if you want to continue to dump our irresponsibility on future generations...just keep voting dem and republican. Keep pretending theres a dimes worth of difference in the two major parties. Keep pretending one side is more responsible than the other for accumulating debt or that continuing this fiscal stupidity is someday somehow all going to magically make itself all better.
Okay...But I've expressed that I am concerned with the debt... In other threads, I expressed my support for the comprehensive plan that Boehner walked away from that would have cut about $2.8 trillion over the next decade and cut loopholes and simplified taxes to raise another $1.2 trillion in revenues. There was the potential for true reform there - reform created when government is split and therefore giving each side a say in how these reforms would work.
Simply writing, "Congress must pass a balanced budget" on a piece of paper isn't reform. It's words on paper.
If it didn't work in Texas, why would it work in Washington?
Unless you believe that 100% of the population will suddenly begin voting 100% Republican, why should all reforms only come from one side of the political scale?
Why would you pass a "plan" that essentially only puts us right back into this mess six months from now instead of one that creates real changes in the way our federal government works?
I would argue because this is more about political victory than it is about reform.
Democrats wanted a clean debt ceiling raise (as it has been done by both sides many times regardless of who was in the White House). Republicans said "No."
Okay, Democrats say, fine we'll attach spending cuts to the measure, but let's have some revenue increases as well so we can close this financial gap. Republicans said "No."
Okay, Democrats say, fine we'll propose just spending cuts, but let's make sure it goes through 2013 so we don't fall down this hole again in a few months. Republicans say "No."
Can you see how someone on the other side begins to think this is only scoring political points when our side has caved already on so many things?
The silliness is that one side claims to be the only ones proposing to do anything about it, when proposals from the other side have been rejected, walked away from, and ignored. And the simple fact of the matter is this: the House HAS to pass something that will make it through the Senate and get signed by the President. They do NOT get to do it 100% their way. The moment they recognize that is the moment this actually gets solved - at least to the point that it prevents the markets from continuing to fall (nearly 200 points yesterday, nearly 70 points at the moment of this writing today)...
Finally, if our credit rating as a nation goes down and it forces interest rates up, that only ADDS to the debt. A .6% increase in our interest rate would result in an additional $1 Trillion being added to the national debt over the next decade. Not to mention that if people lose retirement funds due to market hits and pay more interest on existing loans (all loans are tied to the rate our government pays), they'll spend less and the economy will slow even further, which will lower revenues coming into government, only making the debt grow even more.
That's why this is frustrating. My side has been far from perfect in this debate. I'll admit that. But when you think that you hold all the cards when you only hold about 1/3 of them, you look foolish and a bit delusional. And that delusion is starting to look dangerous to the well-being of everyone - not just the government.
