Congress - Coalition Of The Unwilling And Unable
by: Scott F Paradis
As the sanctimonious fervor raging around the tax rates extension subsides, and we breathe a collective sigh of relief as presumably more dollars will flow to our own pockets, we find our nation accelerating down a path of self-destruction. Like addicts intent on maintaining a state of drug induced euphoria, we need ever greater doses of the choice elixir. Congress, made up of the surrogates we prefer to blame, is a coalition united in its unwillingness to cut spending, unwillingness to raise taxes and its inability to muster a coherent rationale for pursuing the agreed upon course. Failing to recognize we have a problem, we rush headlong to the altar of debt and exacerbate our predicament.
Given the myriad of arguments for and against: the rich, the poor, the working class, corporate executives, financiers, Wall Street speculators, the political class, and everyone in between we still prefer to address symptoms (shifting deck chairs on the Titanic) rather than deal with the cause.
Our grand political and economic system built over the course of two hundred plus years is dysfunctional to the point of disaster. In a system portending to be self-governing we have removed the governor and are hell bent on calamity. Every man for himself!
The founding fathers wisely understood that people with a stake in government were much more likely to cooperate and collaborate to achieve diverse self-interests. A system of government advancing the interests of the people would and could only work by distributing power amongst citizens to the maximum extent possible. Only those responsible for liabilities incurred would be prudent and judicious committing resources. People invested in government, would carefully and knowingly weigh every cost associated with any sought after benefit.
by: Scott F Paradis
  |
As the sanctimonious fervor raging around the tax rates extension subsides, and we breathe a collective sigh of relief as presumably more dollars will flow to our own pockets, we find our nation accelerating down a path of self-destruction. Like addicts intent on maintaining a state of drug induced euphoria, we need ever greater doses of the choice elixir. Congress, made up of the surrogates we prefer to blame, is a coalition united in its unwillingness to cut spending, unwillingness to raise taxes and its inability to muster a coherent rationale for pursuing the agreed upon course. Failing to recognize we have a problem, we rush headlong to the altar of debt and exacerbate our predicament.
Given the myriad of arguments for and against: the rich, the poor, the working class, corporate executives, financiers, Wall Street speculators, the political class, and everyone in between we still prefer to address symptoms (shifting deck chairs on the Titanic) rather than deal with the cause.
Our grand political and economic system built over the course of two hundred plus years is dysfunctional to the point of disaster. In a system portending to be self-governing we have removed the governor and are hell bent on calamity. Every man for himself!
The founding fathers wisely understood that people with a stake in government were much more likely to cooperate and collaborate to achieve diverse self-interests. A system of government advancing the interests of the people would and could only work by distributing power amongst citizens to the maximum extent possible. Only those responsible for liabilities incurred would be prudent and judicious committing resources. People invested in government, would carefully and knowingly weigh every cost associated with any sought after benefit.
No comments:
Post a Comment