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joether -> RE: No hope and no change. (8/16/2012 1:00:01 PM)
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In previous recessions, its been noted in the history books that Democrats and Republicans alike work....TOGETHER....to accomplish the....PROBLEMS OF THE DAY....quickly and effectively. There were some budget and policy fights here and there, but most understood that if Congress was in total gridlock, that creates massive uncertainty in the economy. In past years, the national economy was not as effected by global forces as they are in recent years. Likewise the level of economic understanding of those previous years could be understood with a high school level economic's class plus additional study (perhaps a year of college work). In the modern era (post 2000), the depth of education needed to fully understand all the dynamics at multiple levels and how those different levels interact requires a serious background in economics (3-5 years of college study).
The problem is two fold:
A) Not enough folks with enough knowledge nor wisdom to handle the questions let alone the solutions to them exist. Handling a large economy is not a piece of cake (just ask the Fed). Each concept enters into the economy, but is also tied in varying degrees of strength to a multitude of other concepts. Which not surprisingly, makes most American's eyes roll back into their heads and the usual drooling that says "Hold my head up to your ear, and you'll hear the ocean!". This is the first problem, understanding the primary and secondary questions before learning and understanding the answers. And to the uneducated, those answers create entirely new questions that must be solved.
B) Not enough ability to 'backwards explain' these economic theories and ideas to folks without the basics of macro or micro economics under their belt. When information is....dumbed down....much of the good material and facts gets lost in the translation. Understanding why a particular set of values are at one level and not another takes the assumption the reader had studied the subject material previously. When such is not the case, the information can and has been taken in to wildly odd and biazzare directions (sometimes stating the opposite of the original thought).
In our country, the gridlock has become some stalled that the House of Representatives worked three days in the month of August and took the rest of it off. Even though there are plenty of problems within the nation to deal with, Congress as far as any of us can know, is failing in its role. It has been observed that when the three branches of the USA Goverment 'get along', things seem to move upward at a steady fashion. This is not the case given the ever widening divide between Democrats and Republicans (with their supporters on each side). The mythical group known as 'moderates' are strangely absent from Congress, nor even if they were present seem to hold no sway. Yet, ironically, this group will largely decide the fate of the nation for the next four years. Further, it seems to be the sense that for anything to actually....REALLY....get done in Congress one party or the other must so completely dominate in Congress that the other side is reduced to nothing more than a footnote.
Is that...REALLY....what America has become? A shadow of its former self? That folks that consider themselves 'red' or 'blue' can not compromise on things? That we must fight for every bare inch of earth from the other side, rather than 'give and take'? I watched a lane closure's effect on a two lane highway. Things understandably slowed down. But things were moving along. The right lane would go with one care, than the left. Trading off equally. In some instances the driver in the right lane was to busy on their cellphone and allowed two or three drivers on the left to go ahead of them. But that is not even the case in our goverment. Its like the front two cards crashed into each other, the drivers out of their cars, hollering at each other over whose fault it is. Meanwhile twenty cars behind, people are becoming more and more aggitated about the hold up. Because they can not clearly see what is wrong. The sensible person would suggest both cars move over to the side of the road, and air their differences out, thereby allowing other motorists to resume going forward.
But even that simple concept will not help us with Congress. No liberal nor conservative is going to backdown and take the submissive posture for the other, for the sake of 'moving Congress and the nation forward'. So that would imply moderates stepping up to the plate and lead by example. Unfortunately, that too is never going to happen. So Congress will remain gridlock for at least another two years, and the economy with it. Whose fault is that? The American people! Of course, I find our current President 'is in the right place at the right time'. Since there are many unscruplous types that would use this oppurnity to take advantage of American citizens, the nation, and the economy for personal or egotistical gain.
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