Crisis averted; the United States is still going broke but congress and the president managed to strike a last minute deal that has bought us a little more time to get there. We’re raising the limit on the amount of money we can borrow by 2 1/2 TRILLION dollars. I gotta be honest with you, I can not relate to such big numbers except that it would take the combined fortunes of 40 Warren Buffet’s and Bill Gates to get somewhere in the neighborhood.
I’m not sure what would have actually happened if America had gone into default. I do know that used car salesmen feel much better about themselves since members of congress have now taken their place at the bottom of the public trustworthy totem pole. Oh, and we’re mighty tired of hearing threats from Washington that Social Security and Medicare are in jeopardy because of the economic fix this country is in. They may have gotten by with scaring the snot out of old people back in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s but try it today and waves upon waves of gray haired babyboomers will converge upon the nation’s Capital in such numbers as to make the Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963 look like a backyard barbeque. It’s OUR money, withheld by Uncle Sam for our own good so we would be “socially secure” in our dotage. The money’s running out, you say ? Sorry..a promise is a promise and we expect and demand that it be kept.. even if we have to give up a few things like a couple of wars we shouldn’t have gotten into in the first place.
It’s gotten so I can barely stand to watch the news anymore with the nightly parade of politicians and political pursuaders stepping up to microphones explaining how they feel our pain but it’s the other party’s fault. Now, the election ads will soon be gushing out of Madison Avenue featuring carefully crafted presentations of candidates strolling with their families through fields of grain or a city park as soft music plays in the background and a deep voice uses words like “change” and “honesty” to describe this guy or this gal. Blechhh. Considering how politicians have reached a new low on the scum bag scale in the minds of Americans, I wonder why anybody would want the job.
If there are any economic wiz kids out there who can offer solutions instead of excuses to this country’s financial dilemma, I wish they’d give it a shot. They’d sure have the vote of me and all the other geezers who just want assurances that even if Social Security and Medicare are no longer self sustaining, those of us who’ve paid in our whole lives will not be left out in the cold and that paying that debt is just as important as the money we owe to China which is now home to all those former American industrial manufacturing jobs farmed out by U.S. businessmen in search of cheap labor and enormous profit margins.
Ugh. Time to lighten up.
