Congress Fiddles While the Nation Burns

As members of Congress run for re-election while abdicating their responsibility to create a sensible budget and to deal with the trillions of dollars in debt that are being added to the burden of current and future generations, the public should be asking them with contempt why any of them deserves to continue their period of "public service." No doubt their answers would be that they are doing everything they can to get the country moving again, but that it is "the other guy" (and gal) that is gumming up the works. 

Enough! There comes a time when every member of Congress must take responsibility for the body's dysfunction, its inability to work together and compromise for the good of the American people.

Economics scholars know that the solutions to our growing debt bomb are relatively simple, but breaking the hyperpartisan gridlock in our "hot air Congress" is not. Entitlement and welfare reform, cutting government spending, eliminating non-productive programs, tax simplification and some revenue enhancements must be made in order to get America back on track. Both sides must give up something for the good of the nation, which they have thusfar been unwilling to do even as the body's approval rating has sunk to a level which is beyond abysmal. How can the members of Congress not be embarrassed? How can they have the audacity to claim that they deserve to be re-elected? If they were paid based upon what they have accomplished, their salaries would be in negative territory.

It should be crystal clear that those who seek a new term in the House and Senate are running for re-election not for the public good, but for the desire for self-aggrandizement, power, and the lifelong service which would have been anathema to the founding fathers. 

The best way to address the abject failure for which every member of Congress must take responsibility is to send a powerful and appropriate message by throwing out all of the bums! Better the devil we do not know than the devil we do. If we could be assured that members would serve for a brief period of time before returning to their careers, there would be less opportunity for them to become captives of powerful special interests and lobbyists, more opportunity for them to do the right thing for the public. The current crop in Congress is satisfied to keep the nation stuck in the mud. A pox on both their houses!