Chris Adamo
Debt ceiling crisis: America at a crossroads
By Chris Adamo
While it is important not to offer excuses that might enable Congressional Republicans to retreat on the debt ceiling battle, the American people need to realize just how much pressure the liberal opposition is putting on them, in hopes of forcing a capitulation. However, the primary reason Democrats are waging this all out war is not merely to ensure a continuation of the current bloat and excesses of government. Rather, they know that a Republican cave would be their best central strategy for a Democrat rebound in 2012, likely guaranteeing Barack Obama's reelection as well as major Republican losses in both Houses.
Senator Chuck Schumer (D.-NY) is leading an effort to claim that Republican intransigence is part of a deliberate effort to "sabotage" the economy for political purposes. Meanwhile, the usual liberal mouthpieces in the "mainstream" media are offering their own jaundiced perspectives. Chris Matthews on MSNBC tells of the bliss and euphoria that has erupted in Greece on the heels of that country's passage of a budget that ostensibly fixes its debt crisis. In short, the liberal message is that the only means of preventing calamity and tragedy in America is for the Republicans to stop playing Russian roulette with the nation's finances by raising the debt ceiling and accommodating the outlandish spending excesses of Obama and his minions on Capitol Hill.
But as is the case with all liberal political ploys, this scenario only seems even remotely plausible if it is considered exclusively in terms of the present moment. If the world began yesterday, and come tomorrow will not bear the consequences for today's criminally incompetent actions, then by all means we can continue offering everything demanded by America's "needy" class and never face a day of reckoning. Unfortunately, reality invariably interferes with such an approach.
Even a cursory examination of the current fiscal situation in America and on the world scene yields some grim harbingers that are ignored at our imminent national peril. Despite Matthews' purposeful myopia regarding Greece, things are far from idyllic there. The present "resolution" of its ongoing budget impasse is only expected to last a few months at most, at which time the debt monster will raise its ugly head once again, and with an even greater vengeance than before.
The Greek people, having become conditioned by the irresponsible pandering of the political class to expect an endless free lunch, were incited to the point of violence over the prospect that their nanny state might have to rein in its delivery of "benefits," despite the fact that the money to pay for them has run out. On the heels of brutal and even bloody protests by Greece's dependent class, the European Union has come forth with funds to perpetuate the ruse, but only in the short term.
In other words, the "can" was momentarily kicked down the road, and a deceptive calm has followed. But once again, the tab for the social excesses of that nation will be borne by others who themselves are not financially any better off. In no way is Greece on a road back to solvency, let alone prosperity. Not wanting to see its socialist house of cards collapse under the weight of reality, the European Union is flailing in an attempt to hold things together. Yet despite the application of enormous amounts of money from the rest of the continent, that day of reckoning cannot be avoided forever.
The latest news is that Portugal is not far behind Greece, having had its own "assets" recently qualified by Moody's as the equivalent of junk bonds. And as these dominoes continue to fall, the European Central Bank increasingly has to take on the bad credit acquiring billions of what are essentially toxic assets from faltering socialist nations, with no hope of ever recouping the losses they represent. Meanwhile the people on the street, from Athens to Madison Wisconsin seem to think that merely by engaging in loud and angry demonstrations, they can force those in government to endlessly cough up ever increasing sums of money. Can anyone say "financial meltdown"?
Americans had better realize that things are no better on this side of the Atlantic. Eventually, every Ponzi scheme hits a wall and falls apart. What Democrats in Congress are counting on is the possibility that since the House of Representatives is now under Republican leadership, and GOP Senators are holding fast to their commitment to foreswear the profligate spending that got the nation into this mess, America will blame them for the austerity that is its only course to recovery. In short, as the nation's fiscal situation unravels, those on the left continue to play political games in hopes of reaping benefits for themselves.
Not surprisingly, Barack Obama is playing his usual disingenuous role in this fiscal disaster. Pretending to be above the fray, he is doing his best to shift the blame from his indefensible financial escapades of the past three years to those on the right who seek to honestly confront the situation and rescue the nation from it. This time however, the transparency of his actions has become glaringly obvious. Even some in the liberal media have expressed their extreme disappointment with his pontificating and juvenile finger pointing, whether in prepared White House statements or during his disastrous June 29 press conference.
The harsh truth of today is the same as it has always been. Any government that continues to spend more than it takes in, as America has been doing, will eventually fail. No exceptions. Those who at this late date remain fixated on how to carry on in the present mode are exhibiting their total disregard for the nation's well being or its prospects for the future. If the good people from the Heartland intend to save their country from monetary ruin, they had better demand accountability from those in elected office. Anything less will guarantee that, at some point in the not-too-distant future, America's streets will look like the streets of Athens, but with no prospect of an overseeing entity coming to their rescue.
© Chris Adamo
July 8, 2011
While it is important not to offer excuses that might enable Congressional Republicans to retreat on the debt ceiling battle, the American people need to realize just how much pressure the liberal opposition is putting on them, in hopes of forcing a capitulation. However, the primary reason Democrats are waging this all out war is not merely to ensure a continuation of the current bloat and excesses of government. Rather, they know that a Republican cave would be their best central strategy for a Democrat rebound in 2012, likely guaranteeing Barack Obama's reelection as well as major Republican losses in both Houses.
Senator Chuck Schumer (D.-NY) is leading an effort to claim that Republican intransigence is part of a deliberate effort to "sabotage" the economy for political purposes. Meanwhile, the usual liberal mouthpieces in the "mainstream" media are offering their own jaundiced perspectives. Chris Matthews on MSNBC tells of the bliss and euphoria that has erupted in Greece on the heels of that country's passage of a budget that ostensibly fixes its debt crisis. In short, the liberal message is that the only means of preventing calamity and tragedy in America is for the Republicans to stop playing Russian roulette with the nation's finances by raising the debt ceiling and accommodating the outlandish spending excesses of Obama and his minions on Capitol Hill.
But as is the case with all liberal political ploys, this scenario only seems even remotely plausible if it is considered exclusively in terms of the present moment. If the world began yesterday, and come tomorrow will not bear the consequences for today's criminally incompetent actions, then by all means we can continue offering everything demanded by America's "needy" class and never face a day of reckoning. Unfortunately, reality invariably interferes with such an approach.
Even a cursory examination of the current fiscal situation in America and on the world scene yields some grim harbingers that are ignored at our imminent national peril. Despite Matthews' purposeful myopia regarding Greece, things are far from idyllic there. The present "resolution" of its ongoing budget impasse is only expected to last a few months at most, at which time the debt monster will raise its ugly head once again, and with an even greater vengeance than before.
The Greek people, having become conditioned by the irresponsible pandering of the political class to expect an endless free lunch, were incited to the point of violence over the prospect that their nanny state might have to rein in its delivery of "benefits," despite the fact that the money to pay for them has run out. On the heels of brutal and even bloody protests by Greece's dependent class, the European Union has come forth with funds to perpetuate the ruse, but only in the short term.
In other words, the "can" was momentarily kicked down the road, and a deceptive calm has followed. But once again, the tab for the social excesses of that nation will be borne by others who themselves are not financially any better off. In no way is Greece on a road back to solvency, let alone prosperity. Not wanting to see its socialist house of cards collapse under the weight of reality, the European Union is flailing in an attempt to hold things together. Yet despite the application of enormous amounts of money from the rest of the continent, that day of reckoning cannot be avoided forever.
The latest news is that Portugal is not far behind Greece, having had its own "assets" recently qualified by Moody's as the equivalent of junk bonds. And as these dominoes continue to fall, the European Central Bank increasingly has to take on the bad credit acquiring billions of what are essentially toxic assets from faltering socialist nations, with no hope of ever recouping the losses they represent. Meanwhile the people on the street, from Athens to Madison Wisconsin seem to think that merely by engaging in loud and angry demonstrations, they can force those in government to endlessly cough up ever increasing sums of money. Can anyone say "financial meltdown"?
Americans had better realize that things are no better on this side of the Atlantic. Eventually, every Ponzi scheme hits a wall and falls apart. What Democrats in Congress are counting on is the possibility that since the House of Representatives is now under Republican leadership, and GOP Senators are holding fast to their commitment to foreswear the profligate spending that got the nation into this mess, America will blame them for the austerity that is its only course to recovery. In short, as the nation's fiscal situation unravels, those on the left continue to play political games in hopes of reaping benefits for themselves.
Not surprisingly, Barack Obama is playing his usual disingenuous role in this fiscal disaster. Pretending to be above the fray, he is doing his best to shift the blame from his indefensible financial escapades of the past three years to those on the right who seek to honestly confront the situation and rescue the nation from it. This time however, the transparency of his actions has become glaringly obvious. Even some in the liberal media have expressed their extreme disappointment with his pontificating and juvenile finger pointing, whether in prepared White House statements or during his disastrous June 29 press conference.
The harsh truth of today is the same as it has always been. Any government that continues to spend more than it takes in, as America has been doing, will eventually fail. No exceptions. Those who at this late date remain fixated on how to carry on in the present mode are exhibiting their total disregard for the nation's well being or its prospects for the future. If the good people from the Heartland intend to save their country from monetary ruin, they had better demand accountability from those in elected office. Anything less will guarantee that, at some point in the not-too-distant future, America's streets will look like the streets of Athens, but with no prospect of an overseeing entity coming to their rescue.
© Chris Adamo
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
