Tied Up In Knots ~ 2

Yesterday I wrote about local government being tied up in knots over an issue. But parallels exist throughout American governance. Congress provides a ripe example, of course!

Garrison Keillor stated in March, 2010:

“The frenzy on the right is pure fear of stepping out of line with the Republican politburo and getting shipped to Siberia. This lockstep mentality is rare in American history. Here is a grand old partyfrozen, suspended, mesmerized, in thrall to a gaggle of showboats and radio entertainers and small mobs of fist-shakers standing staunch for unreality, and no Republican elected official dares say, “Let us not be nuts.” There will be books written about this in years to come, and they will not be kind to the likes of Rep. Boehner and Sen,. McConnell.”

I think Keillor was right then and even more correct now. The republicans are in lockstep to defeat President Obama at any cost. They repeat unproven statements endlessly, and promote facetious canards as facts. Meanwhile, as they continue to beat this dead bush and drum, the American people see the President accomplishing a lot in spite of the constant obstructionism of the McConnells and Boehners of Congress. They and their minions toss out proposals without much content to distract attention from the real work that needs to be done. 

In spite of this here’s what has been happening in the last three+ years:

• War in Iraq is over; troops are home
• War in Afghanistan is drawing down; troops are slowly coming home on an established deadline
• Bush War debts of $5 trillion remain in place because he provided no way of paying for them; just more tax cuts on the wealthiest among us
• Intractable health care mess has been moved to the front row and is being solved in large and small steps over time; public sees productive movement on this without any help from republicans
• Smaller government has been achieved although not at Obama’s direction; this has been done by republican intransigence and obstructionism; state, county, city governments as well as school, park and fire districts have been downsizing continuously for 5 years as a result of falling tax revenues caused by a recessed economy driven by Bush policies
• Private sector job creation has rebounded slowly while government units continue to downsize, making job creation a very difficult problem to overcome
• Infrastructure replacement and improvements are being made slowly only because Obama’s programs have been underfunded and blocked by republicans in Congress
• Stimulus program rescued highway and road programs throughout the nation
• TARP program saved the banking industry although they, the banks, took the nation to the brink of disaster
• Mortgage industry remains in ruins because of the banking industry, and Congress refuses to help fix the problem; White House and scattered leaders are attempting to patch together meaningful repairs to save the housing industry along with the mortgage industry.

The common theme above is this: politics has become the sole the driver in fixing national problems.  The board of directors (Congress) is not only micro managing the business end of our nation, but frustrating it for political purposes.

The loser is you and I. When will you and I demand Congress’ removal from management functions and return it to the director role?

There are many ways to do this. But first we must be united in understanding the need to take action. Are you ready for that step yet?

July 11, 2012