Although the Senate, House, and President finally agreed on a convoluted deal to raise the nation’s debt limit, thereby avoiding a possible default on the country’s obligations, the process that preceded the final resolution showed to the world that we are nation that appears to have lost its way as we struggle to emerge from the disaster that had been wrought by eight years of George Bush’s Presidency.
Our economy languishes with no light at the end of the tunnel, as too many Americans either are unemployed or are underemployed and our property values continue to spiral downward. At the same time, safety net programs for the most vulnerable of our citizens are being reduced while taxes for the most well off Americans are at their all time low.
America had the great fortune during most of the 20th century of having unlimited resources at home, having emerged unscathed from two world wars, and having little competition for our products from abroad.
But the 21st century is a different ballgame and unfortunately we have leaders in Congress who have little understanding of what it will take for America to remain competitive in the decades to come. Instead, they focus on non issues such as gay marriage and abortion, espouse views about everything from global warming to creationism that have no basis in science, and appear on Fox News to pander to their constituents by referring to Barack Obama as a socialist (as if they even know what that means).
Shortly after the last national election we wrote that in our lifetime we never have been as pessimistic about the future of our country as we are now. The events of the past few weeks have borne out what we said then and have only served to reinforce that feeling today.