"United we will stand, divided we will fall..."
To use the vernacular of the younger generation, good effing grief - here we go again. I am in Groundhog Day (the movie, not the season). I can't turn on a news show or read the paper without seeing or hearing something about the Armageddon caused by the Sequester. It is going to be bad - it is going to be real bad. Not really, but that is what the script says.
The President, who learned in Chicago to drink at the fountain of "never letting a good crisis go the waste" is licking his chops right now. With the help of a willing media, he will tattoo the Sequester, along with all misery that will come with it, squarely on the poor old Republicans. This is playing out as planned. As in a boxing match, the first couple rounds is for "softening" up your opponent before going in for the kill in the later rounds. Round 1 is the Sequester. Round 2 is coming up shortly. In other words, both Round 1 and Round 2 can now be called "March Madness" (sorry NCAA).
Round 2 will really be interesting. Before March is done, our debt clock (which now shows about $16.6T) will be ready for another transfusion. The last time this happened in late 2011, the hair brained idea of the Sequester was hatched by the White House (that is, before the President thought is was a bad idea). Now with $85B in "cuts" scheduled to take place every year for the next decade, we will once again need to decide to tax the rich (who we are told pay almost nothing in taxes), or make additional cuts over and above the Sequester cuts. Get the picture? It is going to be ugly as the histrionics and sophism will fill the air once again.
How is Round 2 going to play out? I have absolutely no idea. I only know one thing - our Crisis Monger in Chief will lay the blame squarely on the Republicans, once again. And the Republicans, who many times act more like eunuchs than legislators, will not counter punch. The lap dog media will then join the Administration in the adjudication of blame.
Everyone, even the President, knows the real answer to this problem. Yes, it is the dreaded "E" word - entitlements. Until the people we hired to fix this problem get busy and really fix it, we will continue to lurch from financial crisis to financial crisis. As we continue to stumble over ourselves, the world watches in amazement. Our "March Madness" will continue, even long after March is over with.
Round 2 will really be interesting. Before March is done, our debt clock (which now shows about $16.6T) will be ready for another transfusion. The last time this happened in late 2011, the hair brained idea of the Sequester was hatched by the White House (that is, before the President thought is was a bad idea). Now with $85B in "cuts" scheduled to take place every year for the next decade, we will once again need to decide to tax the rich (who we are told pay almost nothing in taxes), or make additional cuts over and above the Sequester cuts. Get the picture? It is going to be ugly as the histrionics and sophism will fill the air once again.
How is Round 2 going to play out? I have absolutely no idea. I only know one thing - our Crisis Monger in Chief will lay the blame squarely on the Republicans, once again. And the Republicans, who many times act more like eunuchs than legislators, will not counter punch. The lap dog media will then join the Administration in the adjudication of blame.
Everyone, even the President, knows the real answer to this problem. Yes, it is the dreaded "E" word - entitlements. Until the people we hired to fix this problem get busy and really fix it, we will continue to lurch from financial crisis to financial crisis. As we continue to stumble over ourselves, the world watches in amazement. Our "March Madness" will continue, even long after March is over with.
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