The Gang of Six -- They Might Just Get a Following

You may have heard of the Gang of Six, six US senators with somewhat disparate backgrounds and voting records with a common goal. They all want to get the US economy back in shape. And, if there is any one thing that perhaps all Americans agree on these days, it's that the economy isn't where it needs to be.

The blame is placed virtually everywhere. Lyndon Johnson's Great Society gave us lots of social programs that surely are the reason for our current fiscal disaster. You don't believe that? Jimmy Carter's economic policy for recovery that gave us double digit inflation is surely to blame. You don't believe that either? Ronald Reagan and his Tax Reform Act of 1986, as well as trickle-down economics and deficit spending must be the curse of all economic curses? You don't think that's the reason? How about the great bailouts under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, were they the reason? Surely, you think that at least one of these contributed to the morass that we find ourselves in, and if not one of those, then find a way to blame one of our recent White House denizens. Surely, you can do it.

The Gang of Six (hereinafter, G6) wants to fix it all. That's really cool, methinks. Here is what they have going for them. There are 3 Democrats and 3 Republicans, so whatever they come up with will be bipartisan. They say that all Americans will hate some part of their plan. Perhaps that means it is good. They say that it is important that they worry about doing what is right for the country, not worrying about getting re-elected.

Bravo!

Let's consider what the G6 have in common. Not much. Republicans would tell you that these are 3 liberal Democrats. Democrats would tell you that these are 3 conservative Republicans.

Now, I'm going to reproduce the current G6 plan in its entirety. It should be a long read, but you can do it. It will start in the next two lines immediately following this one and end before the following paragraph.




That sure was a good read, wasn't it? A few lines of blank space. But, there are some fairly smart people among the G6. All are popular in their home states, so they may not need to worry about re-election. Maybe, they'll come out with something useful, maybe not. It can't be worse than where we are now.

Too Much Rhetoric - The Fools on the Hill

Congress sucks!

That's right, I said it. The House Republicans are claiming $100 billion in budget cuts, but their starting point is a budget that was never passed. Their cuts from budgets that ever existed total $61 billion if enacted for a full year. The Democrats in the House retorted by saying that their proposals cut $45 billion from the budget which is roughly 3/4 of the $61 billion cut by the Republicans. ow did they get their $45 billion? They worked from the same Administration budget that was never passed.

The issue isn't about how much they cut, and how they miscalculate the amount. The issue is how close we can get to a balanced budget, and how quickly we can get to one that is balanced.

Little more than a decade ago, we had a balanced budget. Yes, we had events occur (9/11 and others) that caused increases in certain components of the spending side of the budget. But, just like you and me, when the US has a sudden unexpected expenditure that comes up, the government needs to tighten its belt elsewhere.

Ain't happening. There are too many pet budget items out there.

So, with all due respect to Messrs Lennon and McCartney, here is my ode to Congress:

Day after day,
Up on the hill,
The House with the foolish grins in sitting perfectly still
We all want them to do something
But they are a bunch of fools,
And they never give an answer,

But the fools on the hill,
See their polls going down,
And the eyes in their heads
See the world spinning round

Well on the way,
Brains in the clouds,
Millions of voices out there speaking perfectly loud
But Congress never hears them,
Or the sound they appear to make
And Congress doesn't notice

As the fools on the hill,

See their polls going down,

And the eyes in their heads

See the world spinning round

And nobody seems to like them

Their rating is ten percent

But they ignore those feelings

Cause the fools on the hill,

See their polls going down,

And the eyes in their heads

See the world spinning round

Ooh, ohh

Round and round [my apologies, I just can't do anything with those lovely lines]

And they never listen to us

They know they are just fools

They know that we don't like them

They're the fools on the hill,

With their polls going down,

And the eyes in their heads

See the world spinning round