Washington Fiddles while America Burns

The US Dollar is weak, having fallen in the past two months - now at 1.32 Dollars per Euro and 1.1 Dollars per Swiss Franc. French unemployment rose 0.9% in November, with 13.3 million people unemployed and seeking work. Some of them, like the Spanish and Greek unemployed, are seeking work outside France, mainly in London. The Chinese economic machine is visibly weak, with 2013 growth estimated at between 4.5% and 8%, dependng on whom you believe. Germany is forecasting a lower growth rate for 2013, at around 1%, admitting that the European and world economic situations are having an impact on its export business. And, dear readers, in the midst of all this gloomy news, America's federal government is playing with fire - choosing to roll the dice that the effects of the fiscal cliff will be minimal. Congress is in a deep freeze, with the Senate under Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid refusing to consider a GOP-led House bill that would increase taxes and cut spending. And the House is refusing to consider a Senate bill that reflects President Obama's position last summer, a position that he no longer supports. Americans may well ask how in the world their political leaders got them into this mess. For, make no mistake, it is ordinary Americans who will suffer. The congressional budget will continue, with all the perks, pensions, expense accounts and staff positions to hand out for political favors. The White House...ditto. But Americans will see their taxes rise, the value of their Dollar fall and the worldwide reputation of their country fall. And, while it is an honorable GOP goal to hold the spendthrift Democrats and President hostage to the required raising of the national debt ceiling early next year in order to get some control over spending, it is also incumbent on the GOP, as on the Democrats and President Obama, to face the cold facts. America needs a budget. NOW. America needs a reduction in its annual spending with the discipline of a balanced budget law. NOW. America needs a plan to reduce its national debt that begins in 2013 and succeeds. NOW. And most of all, America desperately needs statesmen and women in the halls of Congress and in the White House. They do not exist now. Americans had the chance to elect them last November and chose "more of the same." One can seriously ask if America really cares about its own future. Do Americans want to continue to be the shining city on the hill -- or are they content to slide inevitably into the ranks of the has-beens, like Rome and the British Empire. It is a question only Americans can answer. And the answer must come from political candidates with integrity and intelligence who are elected by voters who choose the future of the United States above the petty personal payments offered to them by small-minded politicians who care not about saving America but simply about being elected so they can access those rich congressional and presidential perks. Washington fiddles while America burns.