How Things Work in Government (or not)

"When it comes to spending, the Democrats and Republicans are like two drunks leaning up against each other..."

I am so glad I don't have young kids anymore. I could not imagine trying to answer the questions these days. It would be bad enough trying to explain what "ED" is from the ubiquitous Viagra commercials which are on the tube today. No, what I would fear more is trying to explain how our government works.

We all learned a new word over the past year - sequestration. An odd word for an odd turn of events. It was a "poison pill", an outcome so bad that lawmakers would be "shocked" into doing the right thing for the economy. Nope. Didn't happen. We tried to get the drunk to sober up by cutting back his food and shelter money. The drunk told us "Fine, I will go hungry and sleep out in the cold. Just let me keep drinking". And the drunk did keep drinking.

It seems like every day now we hear about something else which needs to be cut or curtailed due to the sequester. Over the weekend we heard it was the Navy's fleet week; last week we heard the Blue Angels will not perform to their regular schedule; today in the paper, much needed medical research done at the University of Minnesota hospitals and Mayo Clinic will have to be cut back. Really? Just like when the Commander in Chief told us a second carrier could not join the battle group in the Middle East because we had no gas money?
 
The budgets being proposed by the Republicans, the Democrats and the White House all get an "F" so far by me. As usual, the most responsible one is from the Republicans - and it is still irresponsible. All of a sudden our debt has gone from being a four letter word, to part of life in the "new normal". 

Fortunately, there are still some clarion voices crying out in the wilderness. David Stockman was on one of the news shows over the weekend pitching his new book. When asked why he was so concerned about the debt, Stockman replied that nobody has the will do anything about it - on either side of the aisle. Our debt will be $20T by the time President Obama leaves office, and over $30T by 2030. It is for this reason he believes we are in the final days of our economy as we know it. What awaits for us is bad - so bad, it will change everything for everybody. Our lives, our children's lives will look like something out of dystopia novel rather than the American dream we have come to expect.

So how does our government work today? It doesn't. It is a broken system run by self serving misfits. Sorry, if that sounds harsh. We have allowed the greatest system of government ever known to man get bogged down in the mud of politics. Everybody hates everybody, nothing gets done, and nothing sane ever gets agreed to. We govern totally by the heart, and never by the head or the wallet. How in the world are we going to come up with a viable budget once the CR expires? Extend the CR again? Probably. This whole process makes me sick.

Today when I file my taxes and have to send in my annual check, I will again feel like I just flushed the cash down the toilet. Money means nothing these days. It has no value to our leaders. It has value to the subjects trying to get by - but certainly not to the ruling class.