Shutdowns and Charades in Washington

Shutdowns and Charades in Washington

What passes for a government in Washington is in chaos as lawmakers debate the budget, the deficit, and a possible government shutdown and the president, when he’s in town, takes potshots at Republicans by calling a bill providing for paying the military ”a distraction.”

The GOP House of Representatives passed another continuing resolution on Thursday to keep the government in business–for a week. The Democrat Senate still has to pass it. The president has vowed to veto it. However, since he and the family may be off again to Williamsburg this weekend on their umpteenth vacation trip, who knows?

Things couldn’t be any more farcical in a banana republic.

Are the Dems paying attention?

The budget is stalemated due to the ineptitude and cowardice of former Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid.

They could have and should have passed the 2011 federal budget in the last session of congress when Democrats controlled the House, Senate, and the presidency and it would already be law. Instead, they chose to diddle and dawdle rather than making some hard spending decisions so that Republicans would be saddled with those choices and have the shutdown albatross hung around their necks.

If Democrats haven’t noticed, the country is on the fiscal ropes. We owe $14 trillion to various people, we borrow 40 cents for every dollar we spend, we’re running a $830 billion deficit, ($113 billion more than last year at this time), and Democrats are quibbling over $12 billion in cuts? Then, adding insult to injury, our flip president flips off a citizenry struggling with a recession, unemployment, and gasoline prices well through the roof by advising motorists to “Think about a trade-in”?

May they eat their cake, too?

As far as fiscal sanity is concerned, Democrats haven’t seen nothin’ yet! If they get their panties in a wad over $12 billion, what are they going to say and do when Rep. Paul Ryan (R, WI) presents his proposals for fiscal 2012 and beyond? . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=4095)