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.