Divided Government

 

 

 

"Sometimes I think the world is divided into those who have a comfortable relationship with power and those who have a naturally adversarial relationship with power"

Arundhati Roy

Could be a rough day on the corner of Wall and Broad. It has nothing to do with the world ending or not ending; it has nothing to do with Winter Solstice; it has nothing to do with Christmas coming next week. No, it has everything to do with Wall Street giving back the unearned gains from "thinking" the fiscal cliff negotiations were making progress. As of last night, it sure looks like we are going to hold hands, and in Thelma and Louise fashion, drive over that darn old cliff together.

So now we have done it. It is our fault. If we had just not voted for divided government, everything would be fine right now. We did not have divided government the first two years of Obama's first term. We did not have these kinds of problems. In fact, because of the huge majority in the House and a veto proof Senate, the Dems were able to get just about everything they wanted. Heck, we got Obamacare. Nobody read or understood the bill, but who cares? The important thing is we got it. If the Republicans were in charge of the House, do you really think it would have passed as is? NO! For one thing, WE WOULD HAVE READ THE BILL!

It has been said when the Republicans are in charge, they act like deer in the headlights. Whereas when the Democrats are in charge, they act like participants in a drunken orgy. Neither does well going stag to the party. As much as people HATE divided government, with all the bickering that accompanies it, it is the best way to get things done. It is painful, it is ugly, but it works.

Back to last night. As much as we all like the Speaker, he has been "danced around the May Pole" in the fiscal cliff negotiation. He made a cardinal sin - he compromised on principal and then the next step was only to what degree the compromise would be. This became unacceptable to the true believers. The President on the other hand, gave up nothing. No spending cuts, no ideas for the future, no promises, nothing. The 3 - 1 ratio of spending cuts to revenue increases became 1 - 1 and then 0 - 1. As much as I like the Speaker, I give him a solid "F" for this outcome.

As much as people want to blame our divided government for the failure of the fiscal cliff negotiations, I say thank God we have it. If the Republicans had lost the House, here is where we would be - everyone making over $250K getting a big tax hike and not one dime in spending cuts. Our real problem, as represented by our National Debt Clock, would continue to spin like a top. Now that this charade is over, and we are going off the cliff together, we can work on coming up with REAL solutions to this REAL problem. All this talk about coming up with a quick superficial agreement and then moving on to immigration reform and gun control, was so shallow, it was disingenuous. To REALLY fix our fiscal mess will take months, maybe more than a year of damn hard work. EVERYONE will be affected in some way or another. The party is over and it is time to pay the band.

Divided government? I love it. Even though the day traders on Wall Street are crying big tears right now, the solution which will come out of divided government might be the thing that saves us. We need to take the drunk out of the liquor store and start treatment. The time is now, the place is here. Enjoy the holidays and come back to work in January with sleeves rolled up, ready to work. Be prepared to stay in session as long as it takes. You work for us, stop spending our money like fools, and fix the problem. You asked for this job, you won the election, now earn your pay.