In the article, "Obama Tells Voters to Pressure Congress Over Economy", (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/13/obama-voters-congress_n_926077.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003), I saw two things: President Obama realizes that Congress is doing nothing but impeding progress, and politicians have no concept whatsoever about working together for the greater good. "PresidentBarack Obama is calling on frustrated voters to tell Congress they're sick of gridlock and partisanship and want to see compromise to boost the faltering economy and create jobs.
The President used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to try to position himself on the side of the public and against a Congress with abysmal approval ratings in the wake of the bitter partisan bickering over the debt."
First, a disclaimer: I have not been diligent in following the details of the latest economic situation. My synopsis of the situation is that the stock market plunged because of something Obama did or suggested, and everyone is in either an uproar, a panic, or some combination of the two. But this post is not about the economic situation, or any other specific situation. It is about the absolute foolishness of the American government.
The entire reason Congress, the Senate, and the House of Representatives were created in the first place was to take the desires, needs, and concerns of the American public to Washington, to the President, so that those issues could be addressed. Today, the system only half works: we still elect politicians and send them to Washington, D.C., but there's where the road block begins. Somehow, the voice of the American people gets lost in legalese and partisanship. Don't get my wrong: partisanship is a good thing. We are a nation of different people with different beliefs and agendas, and we align with others who think as we do. But at some point...AT SOME POINT, common ground can be found, or differences can be put aside to find common ground.
Too many politicians will disagree simply because an idea comes from "the other side of the aisle". It's fine to disagree, but it annoys me to no end when someone disagrees and disagrees, and offers criticism after criticism without offering a viable solution in return. Which is essentially what the Republican party is doing to the Obama administration. Now, yes, I am a registered Democrat, but I like to call myself a left-leaning moderate. I can appreciate certain Republican ideals. But their behavior during this administration (and, quite honestly, the previous one) disgusts me. Obama used his weekly address to warn the public about a gridlocked Congress, while "Republicans used their weekly address to criticize Obama on the economy".
'Clearly, the policies of this administration are not working,' said [Senator Pat] Toomey, who is one of the lawmakers newly appointed to a congressional supercommittee charged with coming up with recommendations to cut the debt." Senator Toomey is a Republican, and I believe he is voicing the opinions of his fellow right-wings. However, my personal response to his statement is, if the current policies are not working, what policies do YOU suggest to fix them?
To put the situation in the simplest terms possible, the people that we the public are sending to our nation's capitol are more than willing to tell us what the problem is and why the suggestions and solutions offered by "the other side of the aisle" are wrong or insufficient. The last time I checked, we elected them to do whatever's necessary to make our country better. At what point do we as a nation (and essentially as their employers), tell them to shut up and do their job?