Blame Where Blame Belongs

I know I have written about this before, but I don't like to suffer in silence, so here I go again. 

There is plenty of blame to go around where the economy is concerned, so we need to stop putting all of it on President Obama.  There is only so much one man can do, given the opposition he has encountered , not only from the Republicans, but through betrayal of some of the Democrats.  Don't get me started about the Tea Party. Now, I have been disappointed in President Obama in many ways, particularly in the way he keeps giving in to the Republicans on EVERYTHING, even when he had majorities in both houses. At first, it was understandable that he was trying to reach out to the opposition and get them to cooperate, but after a few months, it should have been painfully obvious that they were hidebound and would never give in on anything, even the things they believe in.  That's when he should have dug in his heels. 

And, let's not forget the governors, in particular, Republican governors, who readily or even reluctantly accepted stimulus money and then simply sat on it, instead of using it for its intended purpose.  They have let their states down by not allowing work to start on infrastructure, which would have opened up the job market. But, no. Their inaction has meant no repair of roads and bridges, and many other projects which ought to be obvious to the voters of those states.  We will see if those governors reap what they have sewn in their coming elections.

I think we are going to be forced to take a very close look at all of our elected officials, especially those who supposedly represent us in the House and Senate.  In Arkansas, we took the blinders off about Blanche Lincoln.  We voted her out of office but, in my opinion we elected someone even worse in John Boozman.  But, that part of the state is solidly Republican, which is why Blanche voted the way she did so often. It finally caught up with her, and Boozman will eventually get his comeuppance. 

Our other senator, Mark Pryor, has been a disappointment to many of us, me included, mainly because everyone loved his father, Senator David Pryor.  Speaking for myself, I think we should be ashamed of ourselves for voting for Mark out of our esteem for his father. I didn't stop to think that Mark is not David. My bad.  It's just hard to believe that any son raised by David and Barbara Pryor could go to Washington and vote the way he has on so many issues.

Now, we have all this posturing and bombast over the debt ceiling which, in the end, will have to be passed. We have no choice.   So, as they have for everything else, they have been dragging their feet and insisting on cuts to Social Security, which has no effect on the economy, since it is self-sustaining.  They also want to do away with Medicare, but I haven't noticed them complaining about Medicare Part D (the prescription drug plan which enriches the insurance companies).  We need to call the Republicans' bluff on this issue and see if they actually have the balls to vote no.  If they do, we will surely know who to blame when we default on our loans. 

I just hope we get our priorities straight before end up looking a lot like a third world country.

Stay tuned.