Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

My goodness! We've gone through decades where the U.S. was the world power, the big brother, the society to be admired, the system of government that seemed to work better than all others.

All that seems to have changed in just a short time...only about twenty years.

Now the rest of the world looks and wonders how we could be doing such self-inflicted damage to ourselves. What needs to be done is clear. Almost no one disagrees. The only difference is what should be done now, immediately.

The current argument seems to be one based on the desire for political power, for re-election, the appeal to a political and ideological base constituency. Our political leaders are acting as though all that is more important than doing the right thing for the country...taking an important first step towards fiscal improvement.

If one can believe the news reports, what's been offered or demanded by both sides is an agreement that spending be cut by about $3 trillion over ten years. The liberals have even offered up substantial cuts to beloved entitlement programs. In exchange they've asked for a re-work of the tax code to eliminate egregious tax benefits that are unneeded and increased taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Even the wealthy seem to agree that they should pay more. There's even agreement that individual tax rates be reduced, something important to the conservatives.

Overall the deficit reductions would total $4 trillion...$3 trillion in spending cuts and $1 trillion in revenue increases. That amount would be a substantial whack at our deficits, not nearly enough but substantial start. That amount would satisfy the financial markets and keep our currency and our reputation as a place to safely invest strong.

But in an argument that seems to be solely over ideology, those elected to do the right thing for the country are acting like petulant children. They may do something, but what's being discussed won't be enough and will be done for political reasons. It will put off a meaningful decision to sometime in the future. It will be obvious to the rest of the world and to those on whom we rely as financial partners and lenders that our government was incapable of making the obviously needed decision. It will be obvious that more time and more negotiation will be unlikely to achieve a different result.

What has happened to our country? Some have said that our elected representatives are only reflecting the fractiousness of the population. Is that right? Have we gone that far? Is our country, our society, our national values deteriorated that quickly? Have we totally forgotten what we will leave for our children and grandchildren? Is having "our candidates" elected so important to us that all we can do is spew invectives at those who don't totally embrace our point-of-view? Is being re-elected so important to those who supposedly represent us that they're willing to basically throw the country under the oncoming train for personal power and benefit?

Some one tell me I'm not seeing what seems to be happening to us.