I guess, if you follow the news, we should be celebrating the fact there will not be a government shut down. What's to celebrate?
Our elected leaders, in a game of political chicken, finally did what we elected them to do. They agreed on a budget for the next year. Now, both sides are celebrating in the same fashion a football player does when his team is losing but he makes a first down or a tackle. Why are they celebrating for doing their job, especially when we have not won anything?
Do we have a balanced budget? Have we paid off the federal deficit that is crippling the lives of most Americans? What have our leaders done worth celebrating? I don't get it.
The same people who are claiming this a great day in American democracy were willing to continue funding the wars that are ruining our economy while letting the rest of our government shut down. They were willing to sacrifice our children's future by ending federal support of our public schools. They were willing to tell senior citizens that after a lifetime of paying taxes they would not be receiving retirement checks or health care benefits paid for in advance. Small business owners struggling to keep their businesses open were also going to be sacrificed as well as job placement programs, highway programs, mail delivery, and anything else you can think of the feds have their hands on.
Except war. War is sacred to our leaders because they believe there is no better way to show the rest of the world we stand for something. However, any government willing to choose to fight for others in far away lands while telling its own citizens it can go without is not a government of the people and by the people.
And the really sick part of all of this is knowing these same leaders will be up for re election next year and in most cases, they will be overwhelmingly returned to the job they are currently doing.
Celebrate? No. When I see the president given line item veto powers, I will rejoice. When I see the house and senate filled with third and fourth party representatives, I'll cheer loudly. When I see our government's priorities shift from American interest to American needs, I'll party like it's 1999. Until then, I will continue to wonder how we are able to accomplish all that we do given the poor leadership we have.
1 comment:
Great article. I'm with you, what are they celebrating for? Talk about being disconnected from reality. The United States of America is currently fighting 3 wars. Three Wars!!! And, life goes on as usual. Blood is being shed, lives are being ruined, people are dying and our leaders are 'celebrating' over the budget? How about pulling all of our troops home like President Obama promised? How about stop buying off other countries with billions in foreign aide? How about suspending the space program? How about putting all that money towards fixing our countries budget problems? It's easy to do unless you are a politician in Washington, D.C., playing the game.
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