This Congressional Super Committee was always going to fail; it literally never had a chance to get a thing done. Why? Liberals would like you to think it's all Grover Norquist and his pledge's fault. Conservatives would like you to think it's all because Democrats demanded one trillion dollars of tax increases. And the truth, as it generally is, is somewhere in the middle.
Right there is the problem, there's no working center in Congress. Mostly because Democrats are so tied to the massive entitlements that they won't accept rational, needed cuts and Republicans are so tied to their tax pledges that they won't accept rational needed tightening of the tax code that would result in increased taxes for the richest among us, read millionaires (caveat: although I tend to think taxes are far too high I also understand that our nation's financial situation is a mess and we need to take any steps we can to cut the deficit now). The charge of the committee was to find a compromise between these two entrenched positions, well guess what, that was never going to happen. Not with a huge elections staring us in the face.
Neither party wants to run to the center, they both want control of the government on their terms, something only an election can provide. Even though it would have been great for the Super Committee to have come together, rise above politics, and put the country first. It was never going to happen because of this irreconcilable truth.
Our governing system may be broken, but it won't be fixed from within, these guys are far too stuck in their ways. It's going to take an outsider to shake up the system and end the failure to lead. Both parties want to take the Presidency and Congress to just continue business as usual. If Democrats take over, it's going to be tax hikes and continuing unsustainable spending. If Republicans do, it's going to be huge tax cuts and cuts in government spending. What we really need is balance at this critical juncture.
People aren't happy with government, they're less happy than they were in 1992 when the crazy Ross Perot won 18% of the vote for the Presidency, that's why if a third party candidate emerges that is not crazy, they could legitimately win.
Don't believe me? I might not even believe it myself wholeheartedly, but it's time to quit trying for band-aid solutions like the Super Committee. You might think it's going to work for a while and it probably will appear to work for a while, but if there's a real wound, go see a damn doctor. Let's shake up the whole system and find a doctor.
The time is ripe for a centrist to lead the country, and this time let's hope that niche isn't filled by a crazy person.
Honestly, as a conservative minded person, I see the worst-case scenario Obama getting re-elected and the best case as the Republican nominee being elected. But even as a conservative (even if I do come from the Nelson Rockefeller wing of the party) I would consider a centrist party president equally as good as a conservative because of the message it would send and the policies that would emanate.
Policies always end up in the middle anyway, so why not elect a leader from the middle. Forget about all the crap that's out there about why it wouldn't work; if enough people are willing to do this, then there's going to be real change in DC. If the President is from one of the establishment parties, then there will be changes in policy based on what happens in Congress or we'll be stuck in the same muck we're in now. Sounds great, right?
Well, not so much to me, we don't need far right or far left, to get out of our horrendous hole, to invoke the President's words (not his actions) we really do need a balanced approach, one that a centrist candidate only can offer.
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