My cynical side strongly suspects that many American politicians regularly profess blind faith in things they do not, in their heart of hearts, really believe.
For example, I have a sneaking suspicion that there are politicians who, deep in their souls, are agnostics if not atheists but who go to church and pay lip service to religion because it is an electoral requirement to do so. Similarly, I think there are politicos who do not really believe that anything the government can do will have a serious effect on the planet's climate but who claim otherwise for political expediency.
But, in my suspicious mind, the most common article faith proclaimed by those who do not really believe it has to be the notion that the government can do anything much, if at all, to affect the economy. As far as I can see, most politicians behave as if they do not really believe that anything the government does, or does not do, has much of an effect on the economy. For those who subscribe to this view, the politician's job is basically to position himself to take credit when the economy does well and to blame others when it doesn't--and then hope for the best. Or, if politicians actually do believe that the laws and the budgets and regulations that they pass do make a difference, then they are even more cynical than I think. That means they see their main job to put off the economy's most dire problems until things fall apart on someone else's watch--after they themselves are out of office.
How else to explain the way both major political parties pay lip service to the looming failures of major programs like Medicare and Social Security but then continue to carry on business as usual and legislate with only the short term in view? A "super committee" is supposed to sort out the deficit later this year, but is there any reason to believe that its recommendations, if it can arrive at any, will be heeded any more than the last panel that was formed to deal with the problem--and was subsequently ignored?
The current deficit crisis isn't something that began only with the brinkmanship that nearly resulted in the U.S. going into default over the summer. Successive governments run by both parties have been wilfully ignoring the trajectory of federal spending for some time now.
The country's so-called leaders have gotten away with this game for a good while, but Barack Obama may be the unlucky one to have the house of cards fall down on his watch. Recessions and recoveries generally follow consistent patterns, and one of those patterns has been that the steeper the downturn, the steeper the upturn. But it hasn't happened that way this time. After a couple of years, there is almost no discernible recovery at all. Something is different this time. For one thing, the federal deficit in terms of GDP is much larger than practically ever before. For another, businesses have seen their health care costs spike up in the wake of the passage of a major bill that was supposed to rein in health care costs. And, since the law doesn't fully come into effect for a few more years, the true cost of hiring new employees is not clear for those employers who might normally be looking to expand. Money that could be spent on reducing the unemployment rate is sitting on the sidelines because of the self-inflicted wound of government-initiated long-term uncertainty. Another one-time burst of government spending, such as President Obama has proposed, won't fix that.
Did the Democrats who drafted the health care bill consider the real-world implications of what they were doing? Or did they believe that the U.S. economy would carry on (as it usually does) in spite anything they might do. If they are getting a shock that the laws they pass actually do affect the economy, think of the shock they will get when it turns out that years of spending more than the government takes in results in harsh, unavoidable austerity, in the form of steep spending cuts and/or oppressive tax rates, or rampant inflation or, in the worst case, both.
In that case, the politicians will surely follow the course that politicians usually do. They will do their best to put the blame somewhere else.
For example, I have a sneaking suspicion that there are politicians who, deep in their souls, are agnostics if not atheists but who go to church and pay lip service to religion because it is an electoral requirement to do so. Similarly, I think there are politicos who do not really believe that anything the government can do will have a serious effect on the planet's climate but who claim otherwise for political expediency.
But, in my suspicious mind, the most common article faith proclaimed by those who do not really believe it has to be the notion that the government can do anything much, if at all, to affect the economy. As far as I can see, most politicians behave as if they do not really believe that anything the government does, or does not do, has much of an effect on the economy. For those who subscribe to this view, the politician's job is basically to position himself to take credit when the economy does well and to blame others when it doesn't--and then hope for the best. Or, if politicians actually do believe that the laws and the budgets and regulations that they pass do make a difference, then they are even more cynical than I think. That means they see their main job to put off the economy's most dire problems until things fall apart on someone else's watch--after they themselves are out of office.
How else to explain the way both major political parties pay lip service to the looming failures of major programs like Medicare and Social Security but then continue to carry on business as usual and legislate with only the short term in view? A "super committee" is supposed to sort out the deficit later this year, but is there any reason to believe that its recommendations, if it can arrive at any, will be heeded any more than the last panel that was formed to deal with the problem--and was subsequently ignored?
The current deficit crisis isn't something that began only with the brinkmanship that nearly resulted in the U.S. going into default over the summer. Successive governments run by both parties have been wilfully ignoring the trajectory of federal spending for some time now.
The country's so-called leaders have gotten away with this game for a good while, but Barack Obama may be the unlucky one to have the house of cards fall down on his watch. Recessions and recoveries generally follow consistent patterns, and one of those patterns has been that the steeper the downturn, the steeper the upturn. But it hasn't happened that way this time. After a couple of years, there is almost no discernible recovery at all. Something is different this time. For one thing, the federal deficit in terms of GDP is much larger than practically ever before. For another, businesses have seen their health care costs spike up in the wake of the passage of a major bill that was supposed to rein in health care costs. And, since the law doesn't fully come into effect for a few more years, the true cost of hiring new employees is not clear for those employers who might normally be looking to expand. Money that could be spent on reducing the unemployment rate is sitting on the sidelines because of the self-inflicted wound of government-initiated long-term uncertainty. Another one-time burst of government spending, such as President Obama has proposed, won't fix that.
Did the Democrats who drafted the health care bill consider the real-world implications of what they were doing? Or did they believe that the U.S. economy would carry on (as it usually does) in spite anything they might do. If they are getting a shock that the laws they pass actually do affect the economy, think of the shock they will get when it turns out that years of spending more than the government takes in results in harsh, unavoidable austerity, in the form of steep spending cuts and/or oppressive tax rates, or rampant inflation or, in the worst case, both.
In that case, the politicians will surely follow the course that politicians usually do. They will do their best to put the blame somewhere else.
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