Yesterday was a wild ride. Not just here in the United States either. Financial markets all over the world are tanking. It’s been a fascinating thing to watch from the perspective of an investor, albeit a sort of morbid fascination. I’m not a professional investor and I only stick to sectors of the market I understand when investing. Yet, there is no real understanding of this market or more importantly, our political leaders.
All this talk from politicians in Washington D.C. blaming Standard & Poors for our credit downgrade is laughable. Mr. Speaker and the Republican leadership, Senator Harry Reid and the Democratic leadership, combined with the President – it’s your fault!
People want to blame our mess on President Bush. You’re not alone. I’m one of those people too. Yet, we need to stop looking backward and start dealing with the hand we’re dealt now! Blaming the other party isn’t a solution for this mess. The polarization of our political system and by extension this country is at the heart of our problems.
Mr. Speaker, pointing a finger at President Obama isn’t a solution to our problems. Sure, it might provide you a little political cover. It may even score you a few political points with your ‘base’. It’s not a solution. It solves nothing! Mr. Speaker, it’s your fault!
Mr. President, blaming the Standard and Poor organization for this mess shows a real lack of leadership. Are the big three credit rating agencies culpable? Sure, they showed a wanton disregard for the financial meltdown of 2008. Yet, what they’re doing now is exactly what they should have done then. So, should we be pissed about it now? Hell no! It’s not their fault, it’s your fault! If it makes you feel better, we can include President Bush too but, explain to me how a strategy of reminding people who got us into this mess gets us out of it? If for no other reason than to ensure we don’t make the same mistakes then I can get on board with that. Limit it to that context, please.
Sometimes leaders need to lead. They don’t position and posture to hedge their bets for the next election (Senator Mitch McConnel). They do what’s right for the country, not just the upper 1%. They make tough choices, they tell people the truth and then they go about making it happen.
The United States political system has always been about compromise. When you hear Senator John McCain say ‘the American people don’t want compromise’ it makes me shutter. Dear Senator McCain, real leaders lead!
If the American people doesn’t want compromise and I believe a certain subset doesn’t, explain how that is good for the country as a whole? How does that solve any current problem we have? Does continuing to go into debt to finance big oil subsidies, tax cuts that cost everyone billions of dollars provide us a solution?
To the American people I’ll say this; if you’re not paying attention to the political discourse in this country, if you’re not demanding more of our leaders and expecting them to lead, expecting them to find solutions then all I can say is it’s your fault!
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