The Curse at the Capital

          Unfortunately we have been disappointed again. After all the propaganda surrounding the deficit deal, none of the legislation actually accounts for much. There will be no new revenue, no cuts on any entitlements(which isn’t necessarily a bad thing right now). And again it has reinforced the fact that congress is gridlocked and will continue to be as long as this session continues. There are many reasons why this is occurring and believe it or not its not the Democrats or Republicans who are to blame. At least not the Democrats or the Respectable Republicans “RR”. The “Tea Partiers” have really been throwing the wrench in the governments engine since many of them took office. The are making the “RR” look weak and not conservative enough. This has led to many “RR” aligning themselves with the extreme right just so they can preserve their own livelihoods.

            Many people wonder how House politicians can afford to run for re-election every 2 years and the answer is, their respective parties. The Democratic and Republican parties have a lot to do with the funding of campaigns and whether their candidates will make it through primaries. The fact of the matter is that many elections are predetermined. Sure you will have a few surprises here or there but these races are highly calculated. The biggest reason why incumbents lose is because they have strayed from party lines. If you stray from party lines, the less popular you will be with the party and less the funding you will receive.

            Now what does this have to do with the deficit deal. Well about 3 weeks before the deadline, our political leaders primarily President Obama, Speaker Boehner and Leader Reid had a plan to increase revenue and cut spending. The plan was a truly bipartisan plan that would have made real progress and all three leaders thought it dealt reasonably with the options at the table. But once Leader Boehner took the proposal to the House “Tea Partiers” wouldn’t have any of it. They wanted no increase in taxes for the wealthy, deeper cuts in programs that help those who are less fortunate and a balanced budget amendment. What is astonishing is that “Tea Partiers” say they represent the average American, a bogus claim. Most Americans, lets face it are either lower or middle class and these proposals brought forth by the Tea Party again only favor the wealthy.  

            Not only do the “Tea Partiers” favor the wealthy, they have adopted the most inefficient and annoying negotiation tactic. “Its my way or the highway”. The problem with this tactic is that it involves almost no negotiation at all. And Democrats and “RR” have not yet figured out that they can cancel out the involvement of the “Tea Partiers” if they simply work together and somewhat exile the extremist. Currently both parties are too proud to cross the line in the sand but this political nonsense is doing more harm than good. There are good ideas that both sides can typically articulate and Democrats and Republicans have found ways to work together in the past.  What needs to occur is the line in the sand needs to be undrawn  and  a bipartisan coalition House of Democrats and “RR” created until this current session is over. Do what is best for the country and exile these Tea Party extremist that are not any good for America.