Let me finish tonight with this.
I generally have faith in our democracy to meet this country's purposes. What I fear, and try not to let me down, is that it lacks the nerve to face the long-term challenges.
The big two: debt and immigration.
I don't think you can call yourselves a government if you can't keep your books. I don't think you can call yourselves a country if you can't control your borders. After all, these are fundamental to governance and to nationhood, aren't they?
I look at the debt problem and I don't see the two parties getting together. I don't see it between now and the election. I don't see it after the election.
To get control of the rising debt you have to reconcile spending and revenue at some point. Otherwise you keep on adding debt. You have to decide how much you are willing to tax people and spend that amount, or you have to decide how much you should spend and raise revenues up to that amount.
The arithmetic is easy. The politics seem hopeless.
The Republicans, if they ran the entire government, would find it impossible to do it because they would have to cut programs, like Medicare, with such brutality that they would cease to control the government in the next election.
Would Democrats deal with debt if they had complete control of the government? I wonder if the public would put up with the tax level they would impose. Don't you?
So we've got a problem, and it's similar on immigration.
Put Republicans in complete control of immigration and they might be draconian and start deporting people or putting so much economic pressure on them that they would, in Governor Romney's phrase, "self-deport." But would this society stand for having people who've lived here generations thrown out of the country? Would they?
Would Democrats ever deal with illegal immigration? Would they ever put in effect real enforcement that stops the flow each night over the border? I wonder. Would they do it without the political pressure of Republicans pounding them if they didn't? I doubt it.
So here's the problem. If neither party can be trusted to solve these looming questions by themselves, and if the two parties aren't getting together to solve them, when will the problems be faced?
I've just given you the reasons for my fear.
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It's funny how people have preconceived notions and simply don't accept facts. I wonder Chris, how did Carter and Clinton deal with the budget and taxes as opposed to Reagan and the two Bushes? Why don't you check the facts?
Why don't you check the facts on how Obama has done on immigration as compared with every other President in our history. How many illegal immigrants has he arrested/deported as compared to all the rest and how many are now coming across our border as compared to the rest? I don't want to hear any quibbling like Fox does for instance when they claim Obama had nothing to do with Osama Bin Laden's death I just want to know the facts.
I love how you cling to the idea that the Republicans are somehow fiscally responsible but there are 30 years of solid data that seem to show the exact opposite is true. Chris you are just as gullible as most of the general public and for someone who "lives and breathes" politics that is very sad, since it seems to imply that you are indeed one of the politically illiterate of the American public, maybe not for lack of trying but rather because of personal bias. Then again perhaps it's a corporate directive.
Chris is not a true political reporter he is an Obama cheerleader.
Then you say its funny how people have preconceived notions and simply don't accept facts, and in the first sentence of your third Paragraph state your preconceived notion that is not backed by any facts.
You are funny.
the math of government spending should be simple but both parties have been able to play shell games and introduce imaginary numbers into the system to hide from the public what they are doing.
Really chemdmd? May I ask has any Presidents' policies over the last 30 years ever balanced our budget? (Clinton) On the other hand how have Reagan and the Bush's done? George W in fact crashed us so bad we are still recovering and since it was as bad as the Great Depression which lasted from 1929 to 1942 we probably have a long time to go before we reach full recovery. So as far as empirical evidence goes I'm afraid you've lost this argument but then again I'm sure you've been listening to the propagandists at Fox so your "facts" were probably lacking to begin with.
There is no Evidence that the American people are thinking much about"DEBT"questions just NOW,they are Pre-eminently A people who concern themselves with ONE issue at a time;and at PRESENT they are altogether ENGROSSED in the subject of their ECONOMY.@.Chris? whats going on with you for the Past two DAYS?keep the FAITH.@
The political parties need anger management and problem resolution classes. This is the problem: blind persuit of idology. it doesnt work in either extreme. The sooner new gingrich heads to the moon the better.
I only wish that democrats had dug in their heels in the 80's instead of rolling to the will of the republicans. The same was done under bush with the tax cuts. If the D's dug in their heels and filabusterd the bush tax cuts instead of rolling and agreeing to make them 10 yr sunset, we wouldnt be in the position we are in now.
obama is a republican. Democrat party is dead.