The finger-pointing has begun, and unfortunately, the pointing is in all directions. Many point at the President, saying he is failing to do his job of leading the country. It’s been said he has had enough time to make a difference – if that can be done by a President.
Fingers are pointed at those in the House of Representatives. GOP speaker John Boehner has held his ground to stop any tax increase and has even championed continuing the tax cuts provided by President Bush.
Another direction of pointing has been at the Senate. In my last column, I noted we all deserved better reporting from our elected officials regarding their actions in Congress. I also related that before my column went to press, I received two reports from Washington and named the Democratic Senators who provided them. I was pleased to receive them, without any regard to which party they came from.
As I reviewed my column online, a reader’s comment stated: “Levin and Stabenow need to be voted out because they are part of the spending problem.” I can’t disagree or debate that opinion even though both Levin and Stabenow have supported favorable activities that have benefited Huron County. It’s clearly time to put aside, “Not in my backyard” mentality.
Much of the finger-pointing once again involved seniors and their “entitlements” and seniors can’t win. They have to fight for something they have already paid for and beg not to be left without the funds they need to survive. Even those who managed over the years of working to save a few dollars for retirement are being assaulted and defrauded. Banks can’t “afford” to pay interest on savings; real estate values have plunged and stock portfolios are shrinking daily. Seniors fear they may not live to see the “recovery.”
As I see it, none of us has enough fingers to point at all the deficiencies in our government. It is easier to simply agree all of our elected officials are failing us at this time. I have not heard a prospective candidate, of any party, put forth a sound proposal to lead us out of our multiple problems.
We need to put people back to work. We do not have the funds to allow the unemployed to get paychecks for an indefinite length of time. While drawing unemployment, they do not contribute to the “entitlements” they may need to live on in the future. We need to take back our manufacturing ability that has been outsourced and negotiate with workers for the cuts in pay required to make our products competitive in the world market.
Our trade balance needs to be restructured; if a company can lay off employees to have parts made cheaper overseas, it is causing problems, not helping to solve them. It can no longer just be about the bottom line. Daily news releases about corporate profits note: “The rich get richer and the middle class gets laid off.”
A balance needs to be struck before the younger generation in our country decides to take a direction similar to that seen occurring in other countries almost daily on the nightly news broadcast.
The outcome of “The Great Political Stand-Off” was anything but beneficial to the country. Standard and Poor’s downgrading of our credit rating was described as “posturing.” Will the time ever come when someone takes our country’s problems seriously?
To acknowledge a sad event, as our nation wrangles over political issues, a little boy pleads to have us remember his dad. Our service men and women, regardless of what is tearing this country apart, are putting their lives on the line for us every day. I wish we could be worthy of their sacrifices.