I am curious; your sarcasm indicates you find no fault with the last 6 years, and I have no problem with the sarcasm, but wondering whose fault would it be...

For 4/5 years only one party was permitted to send bills to the floor for a vote, and no debate was allowed

An extremely extremely expensive ACA bill was passed using votes from only one party, with hardly any conversation with the other side or listening to any other proposals.

Race relations have gone from bad to worse, and the only party out front stirring is one party.

There is much more terrorism in the world, despite calls for action.

We are abandoning our biggest, and only ally in the ME.

We are implicit in a deal that assures Iran of a nuclear weapon, and a deal that despite the rhetoric will be irreversible.

We are now handing a windfall of income to the single largest sponsor of terrorism ever in the world.

We have turned our back on gassing and shooting of children in Syria.

We handed over Libya to the terrorists, lost Yemen within a month of declaring it a huge success.

There are many more examples, but these are just a few of NON POLITICAL spin to blame the President; They actually occurred and did happen.

I clearly remember Simpson Bowles. I applauded the President for taking the action he did to empanel the group. I applauded the non partisanship of the group.

When the plan or suggestions were released, it was clear that it was a non starter on both sides, but presented an opportunity. That opportunity was scrapped, and honestly by BOTH sides. My hope, and I was not alone was that the President would use his bully pulpit, which is what Presidents do, to force discussion and come to a compromise, but he simply dismissed it

The budget is the Presidents "thing" and while I think the plan was much too austere, it was a beginning but that moment has gone.

The problems cited by Simpson Bowles and the severe answers suggested will need to come to pass eventually. We cannot continue on this path and survive. It will take a brave, sincere President to use it or the new one floating around to get our budget in order.

Simply playing politics with it, or worrying about the political fallout from it will simply insure that "kicking the can down the road" will be our "plan".

Did I overstate in my alluding to Simpson Bowles initially, but until now, nobody even responded to my post, which I hoped would cause folks to look at where we are, and the direction we are headed.

I do not think even Simpson and Bowles expected a literal bill or budget from their work, but what rankled me and still does about the current admin is the attention to politics over what is best for the country.

I know they are politicians, but I suppose I am used to Presidents who once in office can see their way to negotiations, compromise and can disregard the political ramifications of anything.

By the way, I applied that same exact thinking to ACA and Iran, ie., is the admin putting country ahead of politics perhaps ? Should I be a bit more open minded ?

Each time I delved deeper into those two things, I saw and see politics at its worst. I see that before the country and not what I was looking for.

I assure you, I went into my investigations with a completely open mind, and maybe it was just bad timing, but day after day, I found the admin avoiding, not seeking, conversation, or compromise. I read the CBO report over and over, and if you do that you can see the direction that he ACA is taking this country. I am not speaking of the political fallout, but the financial. I heard and hear the admin say that nobody had an alternative but they did and do. They were simply ignored, and most importantly to me, made fun of.

Same with Iran. We keep being told, and this getting old, that there is no other alternative. The more you read the more you find the lies in that.