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To raise, or not to raise, that is the question. Unfortunately the drama now being played out in Washington is turning into a tragedy, that makes Hamlet look like a comedy but the real blame is not the Democrats, Republicans, nor the President but us. As pogo said, "We Have Met The Enemy and He Is Us". It is always easiest to blame others and thus take no responsibility ourselves but the fact is, we elected the people that are now orchestrating this disaster. We have allowed politicians to categorize us by finding certain issues that have strong emotional appeal; if you feel strongly about abortion, then there are people selling that issue and the same goes for the laundry list of issues, from social justice to the military industrial complex. Once the two parties have us separated and branded, the rest is easy and we have the current situation. They have taken "liberal and conservative" and made each side feel acrimony toward the other, and herein lies the control.
The truth is, there are people on both ends of the political spectrum, but fact is most of us exist in the middle. There is little argument that the debt ceiling needs to be raised by the majority of the American people, just like there is little argument that education is in desperate shape, jobs are critical, and infrastructure is in shambles. The average American also believes Social Security is a good thing, and that women should get the same pay for the same job, and racial discrimination is wrong. Put 50 of us in a room, give us all the facts, and in a reasonable amount of time we would reach agreement. It would not be all for any of us, but I fully believe we would come to an agreement. BUT, if any one of us came into that room with the attitude we were not going to reach agreement, then we would fail. Unfortunately, that is the present situation and according to Moody's last statement the U.S. may have its rating lowered even if agreement is reached now. That has disastrous consequences. And the solution is? Sorry but don't have one.
