Political Snake Slithers Across the Map

The Orlando Sentinel continues to massage my ego by publishing another of my rambling letters.  Hopefully it will make some difference.  They actually changed the wording more than usual., but the essence of my outrage was conveyed.

A little background;  The Orlando Sentinel  published an article last Thursday regarding our wonderful leaders in Tallahassee and their determination to maintain gerrymandering and  "government by cronyism".  They all love gerrymandering  because Lord knows they couldn't be elected by a normal cross-section of Floridians.  They have to hand pick their districts to get as many like minded "mouth breathers" as possible.   Even though the public voted by a super majority (over 60%)  to end gerrymandering here in Florida the legislators have done everything they can to thwart the will of the people.  Now that the courts are looking closely at their records, there may be "hell to pay" because they "lost" their records (imagine that !).  

Anyway, here's the letter;

    Regarding the article “Leaders in Legislature

admit destroying redistricting records”

in Thursday’s Sentinel: The will of the people

in the Fair Districts amendments was that

gerrymandering must stop.

Our leaders in Tallahassee seemed to have

thought that since they didn’t agree with the

amendments, which were passed by more

than 60 percent of the voters, they were

entitled to do everything they could to prevent

it from being implemented.

Now they have come under the scrutiny of

the courts. They aren’t sorry for what they

did, but they’re terribly sorry they may have

been caught.When such an abundance of

effort from our political leaders goes toward

thwarting the will of the people, they should

be stripped of all power.

These political games the parties play must

stop. Let the courts showno mercy to their

excuses regarding “lost” records. This frame

of thought from any existing or potential

leaders must be squashed.

Charles E.Marshall Clermont

In my Humble Opinion !!  

That's Seventeen Trillion with a T

     
A Black Hole 

     Although I know we have calm waters regarding the national deficit right now, anyone would admit that the issue will come up again.  Probably sooner rather than later.   Shouldn't this be discussed before it becomes another political football game?

      I know there is an entire school of thought from the far left that argues the national deficit doesn't matter at all.  "The government controls the supply of money and it's their job to propel the economy no matter the total $$ figure required to do so", they argue.  "In the end it all comes out in the wash."   There is another school of thought from the far right Tea Party that anguishes over every single penny and they warn;  "The  end is near if we continue to spend the way we do and interest rates start to spike.  We'll be handing over our country to our creditors- the Chinese".  So, who's right?   I think probably neither one.  It just doesn't make sense that continuing to issue debt in the name of government progress can go on forever (as far as I know they have not discovered an eternal supply of capital backed by nothing) but it also doesn't make sense that the government should refrain from any influence over the economy with its abilities to control the money supply and interest rates when the situation requires it, even if Chinese creditors are calling us morning noon and night.   I am very concerned about the deficit as my blog titled "USA Titanic" elaborated  http://chuckmarshall.blogspot.com/2011/04/usa-titanic.html   (if you're interested in reviewing ! ) but I don't think shutting down the government does anything but rally the Tea Party around their latest "flavor of the month" politician willing to do their bidding no matter the consequence.  It serves NO other good.  It wastes resources and hurts the economy and it fixes nothing as we go on spending money that doesn't exist.    Which brings me to my next point;    "Why is it always impossible for Obama and/or the federal government to issue cuts in their operations in the way any private business would thus nipping the entire deficit argument right in the bud ?"   It's not a point of contention if there is no need to raise the deficit in the first place, right?   This would take the wind out of the sails of the Tea Party and would certainly shore up some badly needed bi-partisan legislation between the intelligent Democrats and the intelligent Republicans.

     Private business is efficient precisely because it removes fat when it is required.  If it doesn't, it will go bankrupt.  The same should be said for the nation but we have no mechanism to correct the government because they control the supply of money.   Their solution is always to print more money (essentially) by raising the deficit.   Right now all we have is the hysterical Tea Party forcing the issue therefor the public is not tuned into the severity of the situation.  Because the Tea Party is so shrill, they've lost the audience with their drama.  I agree with the Tea Party (yes, I do!) that the deficit is a problem that needs to be fixed.  It is a black hole of debt that is slowly sucking our economy and our society into an abyss even our children may have to deal with.     I suggest the next time this debate erupts that the Democrats come up with a solution other than raising taxes.  They could to this with a total overhaul of the federal government including merging departments, technical advances, layoffs, wage cuts and benefit cuts such that the required money will be found.  We won't even have to throw old people off of cliffs !    I know the right will argue that the Democrats would never do anything like that because the bigger the government the better for them, but I am a hopeless optimist with a modicum of faith that there are still a few endangered species left in DC that have a wise mind and a sincere concern for the American people and not their own power and influence.   Hope springs eternal !  

In my humble opinion.