Mid Summer thoughts...

In my life…
            I just returned from a short family vacation to Woodson Bend Resort on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky.  While it was only 4 days away, it was time enough to swim, read a book, watch some movies, play some board games, and play 36 holes of golf.  There were some things that stand out for me on this trip.  The first is that there was nothing that HAD to be done.  I watched my daughters enjoy time with each other.  This was good because Ellie will be leaving for college at Ohio Wesleyan in less than a month.  Rebecca got to drive a golf cart which is always fun to do, especially if you don’t drive a car.  Jackie got some quiet time to read, relax, and swim.  Oh, and she still managed to get in an hour long workout each day.    I got to visit the Elvis Rock on hole #15, more about that later.
 

In my country…

            The next several days are going to show me  a lot about President Obama and the Democratic Leadership in Congress.  The fact that they have even allowed to GOP to play the “Debt Ceiling Card” this far is depressing.  All you need to consider is that the debt ceiling was raised 17 times under President Reagan – yes, that right, 17 times!  Under President George W. Bush the debt ceiling was raised 7 times.  Do you remember this kind of fight? No, because there wasn’t one.  Do we need to look at and negotiate over the nation’s finances, yes, but should it be done at the brink of default, no.  The most astonishing item to me over the last few days has been the House GOP’s idea of “cut, cap, and balance”.  Now consider if the GOP really believed in this.  Think back to the 2001 and 2004 Bush tax cuts.  They could not have occurred, if the cuts in revenue (tax receipts) needed to be paired with spending cuts to ensure a balanced budget.  Think about President Bush’s ability to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Both of these operations cost hundreds of billions of dollars.  What would have had to occur to avoid the cap on spending and also balance the budget?  The answer is that either many other programs would have had to be cut, or taxes raised.  A law to cap and balance is a bad idea.
            If any agreement in the current debt ceiling fight does not contain new tax revenue now, then the Democrats and Obama will have lost.  Our country will have lost.  And my faith that at least one of the two major political parties have the middle class’s back will be lost.  Let’s see what happens.