Politicians and America

There was a piece in the New York Times today that discussed the fact that while most Americans support Democratic policies, they distrust Government so much that they vote for people who run against Government even if they don't like their positions. This is of course an oversimplification of the actual article and the link to the article follows.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/opinion/sunday/tuning-out-the-democrats.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1

The premise of the article is extremely plausible and ultimately explains much of what we see going on today. Clearly very few Americans want to see the Government default, yet we have elected officials who seem to want that exact thing. Most Americans support Social Security and health care for seniors but we have elected officials attempting to dismantle those programs. I could list any number of similar situations to illustrate the point but I believe it is somewhat self evident.

Certainly, in my own experience, and I would like to point out that due to my work and other factors, I generally interact with fairly well educated people from liberal/democratic states. Still, I hear opinions expressed about policies and Government that are simply wrong. Some of this comes from the political ads that bombard them and others from the media which likes to point out the foibles of society. It should be noted that while there is really no excuse for an FAA controller to fall asleep on the job, this is the exception, not the norm. Unfortunately, it isn't news to report that in any given day no controllers took a nap on the job.

The media has us convinced that Government doesn't work, doesn't care and doesn't represent us. We have accepted this as a social theme. We love the country but hate its Government. Of course we shape that very Government even if we are told it is controlled by special interest groups and big business. Sadly, our belief in how evil Government is leads to apathy or protest votes instead of a reasoned consideration of the issues before us.

Consider some of the potential candidates for the next election. We have celebrity candidates who take positions that are really illogical in many ways. Right now we have a congress that is refusing to provide the Government with the ability to pay its obligations because the self same congress has authorized over the years to many obligations. There is actually an easy fix, if is the budget and appropriations process. It is not to cut off funds by refusing to allow the Government to raise money to pay its debts.

We look at this and have been convinced by the rhetoric that budget cuts and raising the debt limit are related. They are only related because some radicals think they can blackmail the system. Those very same radicals are welcome to attack appropriation bills and go on record with the cuts they want. By using the debt limit as a smokescreen, they are hiding from individual accountability.

Ultimately I have a strong belief in common sense and I hope the majority of us are so appalled by the current insanity that we remember the real issues in 2012.