Nearly a month ago, I placed myself on the fence in the 2008 election. Several weeks later, I’m coming off that fence, and this is the first of several posts explaining my reasoning.
I spent much of yesterday morning writing and calling various Representatives, trying to voice my support for congressional members who will stand up against the madness that has suffused Washington. And while it was the House Republicans, primarily, who voted down Monday’s bail-out bill, I was only reaching out yesterday to Democrats: specifically, the Blue Dogs.
I am absolutely outraged by the massively adorned Senate bill, which is filled with sops and pet projects, and tax breaks that — however worthy — can’t be paid for. But in spite of the Blue Dogs’ highly-vaunted commitment to Pay-Go, I have zero hope that they’ll stand up today when the House votes. The concept of fiscal responsibility is an archaic footnote — an aberration in the long-established norms of power-infused spending orgies and irresponsible excess.
History books are filled with governments like these, underscoring the lesson somehow never learned: history is doomed to repeat itself.
I’ve vacillated in recent days between despair and rage. Powerless and voiceless, I’ve been feeling as if I can only watch these final chapters be written. There’s nothing to be done; the problem’s too big, and the moral decline too steep. A 10 trillion dollar deficit, with a matching national debt, and as a result — a massive economic crisis that we cannot afford to stave off.
My very strong feeling is that we’ve spent ourselves into oblivion, and my only ray of hope is the tentative optimism every election offers… which brings me, at long last, to the point of my post.
Our current economic predicament is the result of failures at every level. From the President to ordinary families… from Wall Street to Main Street… from the Democrats to the Republicans… we’ve all been participating, directly or not, in this orgy. But while I’ve written at length in recent days about personal responsibility in the current mess, this society-wide spree was enabled — even encouraged — by the actions of our elected leaders. And I hold Congress most directly responsible.
The people sent to Washington to lead us have failed us across the board. In terms of our current crisis, it doesn’t matter what policies were advocated, or special interests were placated. What’s important is that our Senators and Representatives apparently thought they were spending play money, and they’ve broken the bank.
They’ve violated our trust profoundly, and however much they’re trying to point fingers elsewhere, they own a large chunk of the responsibility.
And we — the American people — have been lax. Yet while most people seem to agree that we need to “throw the bums out”, it’s always somebody else’s bum that’s the problem. That’s wrong.
These bums are our bums, and they’ve collectively brought this country to its knees. Unless that bum is an incumbent who has proven a commitment to paying for his or her policies — has, in fact, insisted upon it — that bum has to go.
There’s a lot more at stake in this election than the presidency — because leadership isn’t confined to the Oval Office.
Added: There’s a great discussion thread on my related TMV post, here.