What This Day in History Demands
America has experienced an ugly and protracted and unnecessary Congressional fight over whether or not our country would pay our bills. This animosity has been a poor model for our children, shows a limited understanding of democracy (democracy demands that once you lose an argument, you give it up to the majortity), has frightened our lenders and international partners and has already impacted the financial markets. A successful outcome has no winners because of the terrible ways that this deal will have been struck.
In The Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman reminded us that, on the eve of World War I, there was a general consensus among European powers that war was an avoidable and bad prospect. But poor communication and ineffective calculations led to war, nonetheless. In our case, Congressional egos, intransigent posturing from the extremist wings of both parties, the politics of "no," unwillingness to negotiate across the aisle, more concern about professional position than the people who put them in there, anger at and hatred of the President and feeling beholden to principles over people has created a war. We want jobs. No one has mentioned them in this debacle. People's homes are in foreclosure; no one is adequately protecting our property. Seniors are terrified that they will lose their benefits; from all accounts, any plan that comes out of Congress will cut Medicare. The poor will lose the support they have received through Medicaid; they cannot afford to lose much more. The "job creators", i.e., wealthy individuals and corporations, will continue to get substantial tax breaks. So far, however, we've not seen sufficient domestic job growth to warrant such a huge benefit; the corporations tend to outsource to places where jobs cost less, and have fewer protections for health care, safety and the environment.
As a result of the loud buzzing I've had in my head about all of this madness, I have found myself wondering why two things never happened in the last few weeks:
List of all potential impacted programs. All members of Congress should have been provided with a list of how a failure of the debt ceiling and specific programmatic cuts to the federal budget would affect their specific states and districts. If they understood that they would not be able to build and improve basic infrastructure, build and improve civic and educational facilities, improve safety measures, and decrease crime (which happens most easily when people have a high school diploma that allows them to get a decent job), they have behaved differently. When John Boehner was asked several days ago what he thought about how the fallout of a potential default would affect his Congressional district. A reporter was heard to say, "Why would he know that?"
Public Shaming. I must admit to missing the passion and power of Anthony Weiner's voice in this fight. I have had a fantasy that he stood in the well of the House and asked all the Congress members the following: Stand if you love America. Remain standing if you came to Washington to do the will of your constituents. Remain standing if you are so committed to your position that you are willing to lose the next election. Remain standing if you would never sign a pledge about how you would vote on any potential issue. Remaining standing if you respect the president.
Disclaimer
: I am a liberal Democrat and have experienced a range of emotions from confusion to frustration to anger at the Tea Party Caucus of the Republican Party. I strongly feel that they have misunderstood national anger over the economy as a general wish for no taxes. They have no mandate other than to work on jobs. The Tea Party does not believe in government - so their actions have been to destroy it. They are guided by a philosophy that the government budget should be spare, some not apparently not entirely understanding the consequences of default. Many Tea Paty member want to return to the structure of government that we had perhaps 100 years ago. Having signed the no tax pledge for Grover Norquist's
Americans for Tax Reform,
they have placed an official stamp on their positions. Because it represents so much that they find offensive, many of them are outrageously disrespectful of the office of the Presidency in a manner that it is absolutely unprecidented.
Today, as I was preparing one of my father's sermons for publication in a university library repository, I found this poem. It is absolutely appropos for the challenges that our politicians have put us through.
THE DAY'S DEMAND
God give us men! A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts. true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor--men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking;
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty and in private thinking;
For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo!; Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land, and waiting justice sleeps.
-Holland