December 27, 2012 at 12:45 P.M. I experienced difficulties when I logged-on at computer #3, NYPL, Morningside Heights. I can never be certain of writing from one day to the next. I will do my best to log-on from some public computer, every day. I am often prevented from revising or editing my texts at Philosopher's Quest and Critical Vision.
I will continue to attempt to make revisions and correct inserted "errors." I will not be intimidated in expressing my opinions. I will focus on corruption in New Jersey law and politics.
As Americans recover from their holiday festivities, the looming crisis in Washington, D.C. has finally begun to attract attention and commentary.
We ordinary folks find the childish spectacle of ego-conflicts and status-competitions among politicians dismaying and sad. The national interest requires a resolution of this difficult economic predicament.
The reason why no progress -- let alone an actual solution -- seems to be in the works is because neither side, neither Republicans nor Democrats, wishes to be perceived as giving an inch to the other.
Your children's future (and their own children's fates) seem less important to politicians than being "dominant" by setting a trend for the president's second term.
I guess it's all a matter of "showing them who's boss." Evidently, some powerful forces in Washington wish the president to serve as a mere figurehead while the real power is reserved for the perpetual behind-the-scenes "bosses" in the respective parties.
I doubt that such a deflationary role is acceptable to Mr. Obama. Mr. Christie is also not interested in being a mere figurehead or frontperson for Richard J. Codey or "others" in Trenton's smoke-filled rooms.
Mr. Obama won the election. Democrats and Mr. Obama have a mandate to ensure that even the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. Given the crunch in the numbers, it defies logic that anyone today suggests that persons earning more than one million dollars per year should be exempted from paying higher taxes as rates rise for everyone else.
No coherent argument has yet been formulated by Mr. Boehner to support this unfair proposition. In fact, this was the crucial issue in the presidential election. Americans rejected the argument that taxes should not rise for the rich.
Ending the war(s), restoring funding to crucial programs aimed at strengthening American industry and academia, necessary spending on military forces, caring for the sick and elderly -- all of these fundamental tasks of government must await the resolution of the current impasse and (presumably) a stroking of the right egos.
It is absurd that the nation is held hostage to such squabbling. Voters' disgust and impatience with both parties is understandable, if not unanimous.
YOU -- America's politicians -- must do better than this.
Mr. Obama has no alternative but to take the fight to the people, not to yield to threats or intimidation efforts, while making it clear what are the consequences of going over the so-called "fiscal cliff." Worse, America's default on its debt would send shock waves throughout the world economy that would make the European economic crisis seem like a proverbial pic-nic.
We must all prepare ourselves for the unpleasant events that are to come. I am afraid that this is especially true of New Jersey. Frankenstorm "Sandy" may have been only a foretaste of the economic and legal catastrophe that is hovering on the edge of the horizon in Trenton. Stay tuned to this channel for the latest developments:
"Just before the Christmas break, negotiations on the so-called fiscal cliff ended on an absurdist note. House Republicans not only rejected President Obama's overly generous budget deal, including his offer to lift the income threshold for higher tax rates to $400,000 a year from $250,000, they also rejected their own leadership's response to raise the threshold for higher taxes to $1 MILLION and to reserve tax breaks for the heirs of multimillion dollar estates."
"Fiscal Endgame: If Congressional Republicans Would Only Act Sensibly, a Sensible Deal Could be Reached," (Editorial) in The New York Times, December 27, 2012, at p. A26 (emphasis added).
