Chan Lowe: Tea party plays with matches
Normally, inter-party one-upmanship in the halls of Congress is, like polo, a spectator sport that appeals to only a slim cohort of the general public. It shouldn’t be this way, but what with the demands on the average citizen’s time of making a living, raising a family, and other mundane tasks, most of us (unless we watch this stuff for a living) only have the luxury of tuning in for a couple of months right before a big election.
Unfortunately, the latest “crisis,” which could result in the nation’s default, is much more serious that usual and warrants our full attention. If we stop paying our bills on time, we will lose our worldwide financial credibility. For starters, we’ll have to pay more to borrow money from our Chinese bankers, for example, and everything we want or need is going to cost us more. Are we ready for a permanent recession?
I’m no economist, but I’ve been listening to experts who do know something, and they’re preaching dire consequences if we don’t raise the ceiling. There are a lot of people on the right who discount what they say, and they could be correct, but I don’t want to find out they’re wrong the hard way. It just isn’t worth the risk.
It’s ironic that it was intransigence about taxes on the part of the British crown that sparked the first tea party. Today, a group that styles itself after those original rebels is being equally intransigent over the very same topic. They happen to hold a lot of political sway in one of the houses of Congress, which doesn’t necessarily put them on the side of the angels.
Maybe it’s fitting that tea partiers helped pave the way for the birth of a great nation, and it’s tea partiers who may be leading it into eclipse.
CHAN LOWE has been the Sun Sentinel’s first and only editorial cartoonist for the past twenty-six years. Before that, he worked as cartoonist and writer for the Oklahoma City Times and the Shawnee (OK) News-Star.
Comments
We need to stop being slaves to the Chinese and to the neocons' ignorance. Defaulting means we say buh bye to walmart.
If we decide not to default then for petes sake quit foolin around and put a 50 cent tax on gas. We got bills to pay.
It is that simple
Posted by: A1ACharles | July 11, 2011 5:57 PM
Well, the one silver lining is that if democrats and republicans drive us off the cliff, we might actually be able to get rid of them and replace them with a new 3rd part with "Do what works" as it's only dogmatic principle. (Can always hope).
Posted by: Tom | July 11, 2011 6:33 PM
isnt this the 2nd summer of recovery?
when looking back at all the quotes from pelosi, biden, obama, reid, frank, dodd, etc about how many jobs their policies were going to create, how well the stimulus was working & how guys like geithner would help us along...i'm really only left w/ 2 choices
1. either they were completely lying to us or
2. they sincerely had absolutely no clue what they were talking about
i dont think i want leadership that falls into either category
Posted by: Rob Roy | July 11, 2011 11:03 PM
"but I don’t want to find out they’re wrong the hard way. It just isn’t worth the risk."
Thats why we are in this mess, no one wants to do whats right, because its hard.
So once again, the next generation will have to deal with it, if we make it that far.
Posted by: mel | July 12, 2011 8:03 AM
Sometimes I wish I wasn't a "news junkie" & just paid attention to minutiae ....Who won American Idol,sports, game shows & the like...Or- played Bingo, Shuffle-Board,cards..Riding off on a golf cart, into the sunset..
But-Alas, I don't...Actually pay attention to world events & issues- Elections & all that boring stuff.
After reading a Paul Krugman column,plus many many other opinions,I've come to one big conclusion ----"We're Screwed"---As you draw in your cartoon, the Dynamite is almost lit... Another great column....
Posted by: Lorraine Wagner | July 12, 2011 2:39 PM
funny but scary.
Posted by: Glenn | July 12, 2011 3:36 PM
The dumbing down of America is reaching it's natural conclusion.All these self-ascribed "True Patriots" who waited to "learn" about history or economics until their late 30's ,40's or 50's and then attended the Glenn Beck University of Parallel Reality or The Rush Limpballs School of Distorted Facts are going to be in for one hell of a shock if this debt ceiling isn't raised, and soon. The interconnectivity of the world's economy will again come back to castigate them and prove how puerile their "purist" beliefs really are. As retirement plans, based in a large part on overseas investments, will take ANOTHER major hit and world confidence in the dollar shatters dropping it's purchasing value and Treasury bonds are dumped by other countries, unemployment rises dramatically and anyone with ANY stock holdings will see those values plunge 30-50%, they will blithely "blame it on Obama" and prove exactly how ignorant they truly are.
Posted by: Robert | July 13, 2011 10:11 AM