Sunday, October 06, 2013

The Art of Compromise

I get a little fed up when I hear the President say no compromise on the budget. They are going to wait for the Republicans to cave in and agree to what they have offered. Rumors abound that, the Speaker of the House, John Boehner said that he would never let the Congress go so far as default on the national debt. Then you hear the Democrats state like a litany; "This will hurt the Republicans real bad when it comes election time."

Think about it for a minute. Any horse trader has enough smarts not to divulge his settlement terms. So if Obama thinks that Boehner is going to blink, he’s miscalculated. Another thing why would the Republicans lose votes? Voters, who want to give money out to every bleeding heart cause, don’t typically vote Republican.

We’ve had about 4 days of this mess so far, and if you listen to the Democrats, this is just horrible for the country. It’s as if we have been suffering through this for months when they describe the fallout. You’d think that half of the kids on the free lunch program have starved to death by missing 4 meals. A lot of government employees have been furloughed, but when things get back to normal, these people will get paid for the days they didn’t work --can you beat that?

Then if Congress lets this go on for two more weeks, we hit the debt ceiling. At that point it is no longer Democrat against Republican, it becomes a discussion on how many fairies can dance on the head of a pin. The concept borders on folly, but everyone is playing the game; “If we don’t write another IOU, the full faith and credit of the USA will be ruined.” How many free hamburgers does Wimpy get to eat with a promise to pay at a later date? This is what kicking the can down the road is all about, avoid the reality of spending beyond our means.

Is there a deal to be made where both parties can show that they got something in the bargain? Most probably. But if there is no compromise, both sides end up with nothing. In this case, both sides loose the ability to buy something with nothing while getting thanked by their constituents for doing it.

One thought to consider; the people with a solution for every problem, are usually a major part of the problem. Here’s hoping they can get together and come to a compromise.

Below is a picture that seems fairly straight forward until you realize that when you borrow money, they charge you interest. You could say from here, it gets real interest-ing. Kicking that can down the road is looking better every passing day. That doesn't say much for facing up to reality.



5 comments:

AIM said...

Jim. It is really incredible, almost dream like.


Obama said (lied) in a recent speech... "we have to raise the debt limit and be able to borrow because AMERICA ALWAYS PAYS ITS DEBTS".

Hey dumb shit... continuing to raise the debt limit and borrowing is why we are in such deep debt in the first place!!!!!!!!

(Actually, it isn't that he doesn't know this. It's all Kabuki Theatre. He's just the banking sectors biggest shill. And they don't even try to cover it up: Goldman Sachs was Obama's largest campaign contributor.)

AIM said...

Actually... what I really meant to say to Obama794 was:

Hey, dumb shit... what do you mean "America always pays its debt"? The reason you need to raise the debt limit and borrow is because America CAN'T pay its debt.

Jim in San Marcos said...

Hi AIM

I've never seen you torqued out like this before. I guess Obama touched a raw nerve with you.

He has hell to pay for pushing Obamacare through Congress using a back door.

The real problem is the spendthrift Congress, that never saved for a rainy day.

I think if the Republicans can successfully pull the plug on this mess without giving in, it's the Democrats that will lose votes. Its the free money that buys the poor vote. If you can't print it, you have to borrow it. And that's easier said than done.

Anonymous said...

Our main enemy is ourselves (The American citizen) for not getting educated, not being vigilant, and for continuing to elect and re-elect corrupt or effete legislators and presidents. Our 2nd enemy is Congress.

If everyone forwarded this message to a minimum of twenty people on their address list, and in turn asked each of those to do likewise, in three days, most people in The United States of America would have received this message. This is one idea that really should be passed around in order to enlighten the public and hopefully move them to action.

*Congressional Reform Act of 2013
1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/31/13. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work. If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. Don't you think it's time? THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!

Anonymous said...

The debt ceiling will be raised, Congress continues to spend, the deficit gap continues to widen, and QE becomes a standard, normal and regular monetary policy. This is what we have to look forward to.

We've had the stupidest people possible running our government for the last many decades. Today it is all lawyers and PhDs who know nothing about domestic and global economics in the real world. They are destroying the system completely.

I have to figure out how to get off this runaway train before it hits the wall at the end of the line. Not an easy task.