More Budget Madness

Given the prevalence of the issue in the news and its importance not only to the US but to the world economy, I sort of feel like I should comment more on how the extremists in the US Congress (particularly the House of Representatives) are bringing the US to the brink of financial disaster. But on the other hand, it's getting rather depressing to read not only the inanities spouted by the hardliners (and even the relative moderates -- "relative" being the key word here; most of them would be extremists in any other context), but the sort of "compromises" that President Barack Obama and the Senate Democrats have been reduced to pushing (huge spending cuts -- and far too little of it defense spending -- without any increases in revenue?). One thing I can understand is Obama's insistence on raising the debt limit through the end of next year. While Congress often raised the debt limit more than once a year in the past, they did it with a minimum of fuss. Only the same fringe characters who are creating a crisis this time around would really want to go through all this again any time soon.

I do wonder how many Americans really understand the facts of this debate. Even aside from believing the false ideas promoted by the right-wing fringe, like the claim that all wealthy individuals and corporations are "job creators" and any kind of tax increase will hurt growth while spending cuts won't, or the assertion that the US tax burden is particularly heavy, or any other such nonsense, many people may not even be aware that the raising the debt limit simply authorizes the federal government to pay the bills for spending that has already been passed by Congress. It has nothing to do with authorizing new spending. The time to be negotiating over future spending and taxes is when a new budget is proposed, not when the question is whether the US will fulfill its commitments. But given the crisis that some irresponsible people have created, perhaps Obama should consider using the 14th amendment to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling. He might actually have better constitutional grounds for doing so than for picking and choosing which bills to pay. Incidentally, while I can understand the writer's conclusion that anyone wanting to be US president should have their head examined, I don't think Obama (or most other people) fully realized what kind of unhinged, vitriolic opposition he'd be facing. Also, if no sane, sensible people wanted the job, then we'd end up with someone like Michelle Bachman, Rick Perry, or Sarah Palin as president of the US, which would be a complete disaster for not only the US, but the rest of the world as well.