The Debt Ceiling Hurts My Head

President Obama just spoke to the nation about the debt ceiling and asked us each to write to our Congress persons to support a balanced approach to raising it.

I also wrote to Speaker John Boehner using my debt ceiling headache as a proxy for the national nightmare that Congress has given us:

Dear Speaker Boehner,

I appreciate the difficult position that you are in as the leader of a party learning to work with a new faction, the Tea Party. As someone who is trained in negotiations, I have been fascinated by the new, partisan language and frankly, unkind language used by Congress members to describe one another and the legislative process.

I have also been stunned by the manner in which the President has been treated; we have all taught our children to speak kindly and respectfully of elders and people in certain positions of authority whether or not they agreed with them. Neither you nor other Republicans have been a good model for the country in this regard.

Those of us working every day care little about the internecine struggles of Beltway politics. We are concerned about what happens at the end of the work that the political parties do, hopefully together, to make America work well.

This is what most Americans want, as supported by most polls taken by Republican, Democrat and non-partisan organizations. We want a balanced budget, including the closing of egregious tax loopholes. We want each political side to always give something up for the greater collective good. We want to continue to be a respected nation. If we work, we should be paid a living wage. If we cannot work because of disability or illness we need to be helped. Schools must be excellent because otherwise no one will be adequately prepared to work in the future. We need first responders to keep us safe. We want to get out of our wars.

Some systems can certainly be fixed. Subsidies for fresh vegetables and taxes for fast foods will increase the market for healthy meals. Our health will improve, our diet-related illnesses decrease, all providing huge savings to the system. Every system should be looked at for waste and redundancy. And every American should share equally in the sacrifice needed to make the country strong, according to their capacity to do so.

The debt crisis was never real, of course. It was somewhat manufactured. This is the first time that the debt ceiling was tied to all of these fiscal factors, forwarded by you when Timothy Geitner asked you to present the standard debt ceiling proposal to Congress. The Tea Party made a set of new demands which made what is normally a one sentence document a torturous experience for all of us. While there may be ideas worth considering, they are not appropriately tied to this document.

So it can be fixed. It would make so many of us admire you even more if you would work with your party members at better understanding that the country will, indeed, default if this does not pass. That saying no to even things you previously approved makes your party look unreasonable, vindictive, uncaring and uncompromising. Republicans must listen to the American people who live outside of their districts, to the people on Wall Street, to our international lenders, all of whom are clear that things are bad and will only get worse. It cannot be that a small group of Republicans are the only ones in the world who are right about our country's financial status. And it is clear to me that you know this very well.

The heart and soul of this country is at stake. It seems that it is in your hands. And we, here in the heartland, are frightened. We want to be able to count on you doing the tough thing even if your party members will be furious with you. But they must be taught where politics ends and governing begins. Because a safe country and secure Americans is worth the ire of some Congress members. They, after all, are there to serve us. And if they refuse to pay attention to what we are saying, then you, as their leader, by definition of your job, simply must. Political bravery is a very hard choice to make. Please make it. History will smile on you.