Well, Armageddon has once again been averted at the last minute by our crack team of elected officials (ironically the same crack team that started the damn problem in the first place, but let's try to focus on the positives). And once again I am going to have a lot of looting and public nudity charges to deal with in the aftermath of the world not ending.
Yup. The debt ceiling has been raised. The Bill passed by Senate earlier today has just been passed by the House and our President is more than eager to sign it into law. Let us all pat ourselves on our communal back as we authorize our grandiose solution to the number one economic superpower in the world's financial problems: Borrowing more money. 'Murica.
I don't claim to fathom even an inkling of the multitudinous waves of red tape that the political process creates, nor do I claim to know the full scope of issues that are awash in this mess. Nor would I openly and honestly voice those opinions because god (or God, depending on your point of view) only knows that I know enough crazies on either extreme of the political spectrum that would absolutely leap at the opportunity to bulldoze me with an endless barrage of partisan BS.
Nor do I care.
The fact of the matter is that we appear to be a whole gaggle of geese that can't get themselves in a line. Fitch threatened a downgrade of the creditworthiness of our sovereign debt. China got a neat little opportunity to crack the verbal whip across our backs by making sure we "protect their investments." We furloughed an incredible amount of government employees considered to be 'non-essential', basically giving a major part of the workforce that keeps this machine running a kick in the teeth right before holiday season.
And for what?
The opportunity to hold ourselves hostage and attempt to force hasty decisions on the entire financial strategy we have adopted? We came across to the global community looking like a 4 year old holding her breath because she couldn't get what she wanted.
Well, the relief rally is upon us as we enjoy our post-stressor endorphin rush. Stocks stuttered, now they stand strong. Rates climbed, now they enjoy a relaxing dip. The needless and self-fabricated volatility has left the building.
I imagine this is exactly how Al Gore feels after every hurricane ends. You know. Because according to him those things are our fault. Ha ha. Environmental humor.
Anywho. If I were you I would maybe cancel that order for bomb shelter installation in your back yard and get back to business as usual. That is, until we run into the next critical deadline that demands we address the underlying issues of our creeping financial insolvency.
And assuming all of our elected officials can quit caring about their respective crazy constituencies and actually move towards a balanced and unified approach to handling our nation's pocketbook in less than four months then we'll all be fine.
...maybe don't cancel that bomb shelter.
No comments:
Post a Comment