With the "Fiscal Cliff Deadline" approaching in just a few short days and still no solution passing through the Houses, the people of the United States are getting a good look at the true colors of our politicians and seeing the ugly face of this countries current political system.
Yesterday members of both parties met behind closed doors to try and cut a deal before the new year. Although after the meeting President Obama did state that he's "optimistic we may still be able to reach an agreement that can pass both houses in time"; a clear path towards a solution is still yet to be seen. The House does plan to reconvene on Sunday to nail out a deal. No doubt a compromise will be agreed upon in the nick-of-time, and our leaders in D.C. will look like saviors for not letting us go over the "Cliff", but why wait so long to finally make a deal? The answer to that is exceedingly simple; re-election. The longer both parties hold out from compromising on their own parties ideals the better they look to their voters in the next election.
So while D.C. probably isn't cold enough to let America go over the edge for a few votes, they are willing to wait till the last minute to save as much face before compromising. Well as long as they don't let the stalemate continue into 2013 it's fine; right? Wrong. With all the uncertainty of whether or not a deal will be made in time, or at all, Wall Street has seen "depressed stock indexes.. over the past week despite other encouraging economic news."(CNN) Experts have warned that letting the US go over the Cliff could ignite another recession. American's are left in a barrel floating down stream; making their way closer and closer to the edge of the Fiscal Cliff. While we float alarmingly close to the edge our nation's leaders play a game of political chicken; both sides trying not to be the first to rescue us from the going over the edge of the cliff by compromising while simultaneously accusing the other party of being the unyielding side.
The results of this political showdown are obviously negative; best case scenario all we have to deal with are temporarily lower stock indexes. Worst case our politicians' lack of compromise sends our still weak economy back into a full blown recession. Either way, the only good that has come from this entire situation is a good look at what has become of our current political system. Our system has become one in which our leaders care more about staying in office than the well-being of the people.
This is nothing new though. Most of our politicians have been doing this for years and have been caring more about being re-elected ever since they first got into office. So the solution is obvious; put fresh faces in office. As easy as a solution as that seems we will probably will see the same people in office after the next election.
With the edge of the Fiscal Cliff drawing closer every day we will see for certain how much (or little) our elected officials truly care about the welfare of the nation. So as we all float in our barrel closer and closer to the edge, hopefully our elected officials will cut out a deal before we "go over"; but either way we will know where this nation's leaders priorities lie in the coming days.
*Information gathered from:
Bash, Dana, Deirdre Walsh, Ted Barrett, Greg Botelho, and Kevin Liptak. "Senate Leaders Will Try to Work out a Fiscal Cliff Deal over Weekend." CNN. Cable News Network, 28 Dec. 2012. Web. 29 Dec. 2012.
