Déjà Vu, 2013 Edition
Can-Kicking Congress? What Else Is New?
Posted: January 2, 2013
Today is the first official business day of 2013, but for leaders in Washington, instead of a New Year and a new beginning, it is likely just the start of another year with the same old refrain.
Or as the great orator Yogi Berra so famously said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
Partisan bickering and political maneuvering seem much more important in Washington than truly solving the myriad fiscal problems that stick out like a sore thumb. Runaway spending and a growing entitlement culture seem as if they will never be addressed.
Congress makes patchwork deals at the last minute that simply kick the can down the road for a few months and set the stage for another looming crisis at the next deadline. To wit: Tuesday night’s passage of a cobbled-together “fiscal cliff” bill — one that preserves the Bush-era tax cuts for some but allows Congress to put off spending cuts for another two months.
Business owners continue to be held in limbo (unable to plan since Congress won’t), the stock market ebbs and flows with each looming deadline, and citizens just shake their heads.
So, it is little wonder that the American people continue to hold their leaders in Washington in low esteem. According to a Rasmussen Poll taken Dec. 27-28, “Just five percent (5%) of Likely U.S. Voters now rate Congress’ performance as good or excellent. Sixty-nine percent (69%) view its performance as poor.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
But until leaders in Congress actually get serious about taking substantive action to enact true tax reform, fix broken entitlement programs, and reduce out-of-control government spending, we will continue to bounce from one manufactured crisis to another.
And we have yet to mention the specter of Obamacare, which will continue its creep into our pockets throughout this year and for many to come in its current state.
Perhaps 2013 will turn out to be the year that true leadership and solutions come out of Washington. According to the Chinese
Zodiac, 2013 is the Year of the Snake, so we won’t be making any such bold predictions.
Or as the great orator Yogi Berra so famously said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
Partisan bickering and political maneuvering seem much more important in Washington than truly solving the myriad fiscal problems that stick out like a sore thumb. Runaway spending and a growing entitlement culture seem as if they will never be addressed.
Congress makes patchwork deals at the last minute that simply kick the can down the road for a few months and set the stage for another looming crisis at the next deadline. To wit: Tuesday night’s passage of a cobbled-together “fiscal cliff” bill — one that preserves the Bush-era tax cuts for some but allows Congress to put off spending cuts for another two months.
Business owners continue to be held in limbo (unable to plan since Congress won’t), the stock market ebbs and flows with each looming deadline, and citizens just shake their heads.
So, it is little wonder that the American people continue to hold their leaders in Washington in low esteem. According to a Rasmussen Poll taken Dec. 27-28, “Just five percent (5%) of Likely U.S. Voters now rate Congress’ performance as good or excellent. Sixty-nine percent (69%) view its performance as poor.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
But until leaders in Congress actually get serious about taking substantive action to enact true tax reform, fix broken entitlement programs, and reduce out-of-control government spending, we will continue to bounce from one manufactured crisis to another.
And we have yet to mention the specter of Obamacare, which will continue its creep into our pockets throughout this year and for many to come in its current state.
Perhaps 2013 will turn out to be the year that true leadership and solutions come out of Washington. According to the Chinese
Zodiac, 2013 is the Year of the Snake, so we won’t be making any such bold predictions.