Jasper Journal

As I write this there is no clear indication that the two sides in Washington will agree on a compromise that will prevent a government shutdown on Friday.  So what we have is a national game of chicken with the entire world watching on the sidelines. 

 Aside from being  political theater of the highest degree, I believe this crisis is the most significant act in a battle to retake our country. On one side we have republicans who are attempting to bring sanity and reason to a bloated, out of control spending process that is sure to bankrupt the country. On the other side we have the old guard democrats beholden to special interests such as unions and other groups that immediately charge that budget cuts will kill children and make people homeless.

 To me this is shameful. The democrats refused to pass a budget last year and have offered nothing in the way of proposals to bring down the deficit. They are playing politics and hoping the republicans pay a price for a government shutdown.

The president claimed he would reduce the deficit and now states that politics should not be a part of this budget battle. Who is he kidding? Everything with him is about politics.  Who in your lives has not had to cut their spending, do without, scrimp on food and other items in hard times? I think we all have. So why is it so hard for the democrats to give up the excesses they and their surrogates are addicted to? 

Some have compared this to the first major engagement of WW II. I think they are right. Paul Ryan unveiled  a bold and sweeping plan today  to cut the deficit by trillions over ten years. Clearly the democrats are in a panic mode. But they only have themselves to blame. There is no more money and business as usual cannot continue. I hope if it comes to a shutdown that you will understand that this was brought about not by the republicans, but by the party that spends like a drunken sailor and refuses to act like grown ups and take meaningful action.

I am so tired of listening to hackneyed Democrats utter the same old charges about republicans being for the rich and killing children.  How we ever let them get into power for so long amazes me.   Let’s see if President  Obama is a leader or just another failed politician. As the famous sports announcer says at the beginning of boxing matches,  “Let’s get ready to rumble.”