6 Weeks
What were you doing 6 weeks ago? It’s kind of hard to remember if you just sit and ask yourself. It was August 31st. State Fair time. The end of the summer. I’d say in the past 6 weeks I’ve gotten a lot done, though I’m not sure what it is. Painted a few rooms, put together some closet organizers, got some stuff done at work.
But why is 6 weeks a relevant time to blog about? Because 6 weeks from now is the deadline for the Stupid Committee to agree upon recommendations to fix the US budget problems. My guess is that 95% of the people out there don’t know who is on the Stupid Committee. The best known is probably John Kerry. One sad reality is that 4 of the members of the Stupid Committee were on the President’s Debt Commission, and they all voted against its recommendations. I think this panel is designed to fail.
And when I say fail, I don’t mean that they won’t come to a compromise. They very well might come to a compromise, but I think it will be like the MN legislature’s compromise with Gov Dayton. Instead of finding true budget and policy reform, they’ll come up with some way to continue to defer paying our bills.
Here’s the funny part. They can all win with their ideas. They’re politicians – when questioned they won’t give a straight answer anyway. If they support something that has some of their {insert ridig failed ideology}, it’s not the end of their careers. They’ll get re-elected anyway. So why are they afraid to put their necks on the line? A recent AP report indicated they haven’t made much progress. We didn’t need the AP to tell us that; it was a forgone conclusion they’d be at a standstill at this point. But here’s the best part (better than the aforementioned (thank you Dan Simmons for that word) funny part). They can support a compromise, but vote against it when it actually goes to Congress for a real vote. I mean it’d be nice if they’d at least pretend to care by passing something in six weeks. Sooner is better, because then it gives Congress more time to not look at it.
Our best hope unfortunately lies in Wall Street. If the markets respond negatively to inaction, hopefully they will become more willing to comrpomise. The reality is tax rates will have to go up, and not just on the “rich”, probably on the middle class too. Military spending will have to see significant cuts. Gas taxes may have to go up. Social Security benefits may have to be cut. Obamacare may have to stay as it is.
So please, please, please, write the members of the Stupid Committee. Don’t go to your own representative – he/she doesn’t care. Email them. They are:
Patty Murrary - http://murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactMe
Max Baucus - http://baucus.senate.gov/?p=contact
John Kerry – http://kerry.senate.gov/contact/
James Clyburn – https://clyburn.house.gov/contact-me
Xavier Becerra – http://forms.house.gov/becerra/webforms/issue_subscribe.html
Chris Van Hollen – http://vanhollen.house.gov/Contact/
Jeb Hensarling – http://hensarling.house.gov/contact/
Dave Camp – http://camp.house.gov/Contact/ ->This guy appears to only want to hear from his constituents. Look up zip code in MI and tell him not to be so picky because he’s part of the super committee.
Fred Upton – https://upton.house.gov/Contact/default.aspx -> Another MI guy who thinks he’s above having to be responsible to his constituents. Remind him that he poops like the rest of us, so he has to listen to you.
John Kyl - http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Pat Toomey – http://toomey.senate.gov/?p=contact
Let them hear your voice. They have 6 weeks.
