But too many of our elected officials were perfectly willing to court disaster.
Eighteen Senators voted to continue the shutdown and to stop paying the nation’s bills. One hundred and twenty-six Representatives joined them, and several–including Todd Rokita and Marlin Stutzman from Indiana–blithely assured their constituents that a default “wouldn’t be a big deal”–all credible economists to the contrary.
The GOP brought the country to a screeching halt for three weeks–and for what? To remind us they disagreed with a law that had been passed by a democratic majority to make health insurance accessible to people who didn’t have it.
According to the Standard and Poor index, the government shutdown delivered a powerful blow to our still fragile economy. By the S & P’s estimate, this childish tantrum cost us $24 billion dollars–dollars that Elizabeth Warren accurately described as having been flushed down the drain for a completely unnecessary political stunt.
“$24 billion dollars. How many children could have been back in Head Start classes? How many seniors could have had a hot lunch through Meals on Wheels? How many scientists could have gotten their research funded? How many bridges could have been repaired and trains upgraded?”
We are governed by spoiled brats.
While half asleep, attempting to stay awake long enough to see what the fools in Congress were going to do, I did catch one comment that the shutdown was an “inconvenience”. Was that our own Stutzman speaking or another of the out-of-control children in what appears to most to be a nursery school with no teachers on duty? Due to the temporary fix they finally came up with; are the Senate and House members expected to continue working on permanent solutions or will they go about their daily lives after “fixing” this government’s problems?
I did see that the attempts to contact ACA information/registration have dropped significantly. What else could be expected when Americans have no idea what this government is going to do with promised solutions to lack of health care coverage. Requiring proof of income is a reasonable expectation; otherwise, high income people would take advantage of the situation. President Obama said last week that those with current health care plans do not need to do anything (this offsets the GOP gossip that we will all be forced to use ACA); but that our insurance companies may make changes. How many people heard and retained this vital information? That $24 billion could have been put to good use rather than being flushed away. Americans ARE people, corporations are NOT but they have flourished during this “inconvenience” while millions of people have suffered losses and lived in fear. It is always “Follow the MONEY” in this government and this country.
The problem has nothing to do with spoiled brats (and I don’t think they necessarily are). The problem is that a wide swath of the voters in this country buy into the anti-elitism/anti-expert malarkey peddled by some politicians and interest groups. (Never mind that people like Cruz and Santorum have educational pedigrees that are more elite than my Notre Dame-Indiana University degrees.)
The real question in my mind is whether guys like Cruz really believed what they were saying, like that a default wouldn’t be a big deal, or if it’s just the usual BS that all politicians throw around on occasion. If they did really believe their own words, then it seems that the problem is that some of our leaders are willfully ignorant and don’t think that facts matter. They reject reality and substitute their own, and that is very frightening.
I saw over on Huffington Post an article about Christian Reconstructionism, a movement that wants to eradicate the US government and replace it with a theocracy. The writer postulates that a default by the government and encouraged by this movement would help bring about its goal. The leaders of this movement have ties to Ron Paul and Ted Cruz. Something worth investigating further.
Imagine what thoughtful people in other countries must think of us. Our currency is the standard for the world, but the government behind it at the moment totally dysfunctional. Why wouldn’t they decide to end this situation?
Those who created this mess never lost one minute’s sleep. They had their power and their paychecks, so why should they worry? It is time for us to examine that, along with examining how we can prevent this slide toward disaster again in a few months. We can’t live like this.
I realllly hope Elizabeth Warren is President in my lifetime.
Cruz is running hard and fast as he can go. Had a meet-n-greet with a bunch of golden-agers right outside the halls of Congress today! Many won’t survive to 2014 or 2016. Some say he’s eligible, having one parent born in the US. As for himself, he was born (really!) in an actual different country we call Canada. He’s already made it clear that he would renounce Canadian citizenship. Lovely, eh?
Can’t you just hear things heating up.