The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    The Sequester Is Making Us Stupid

    By Michael Maiello on Mon, 03/04/2013 - 10:43am | Politics

    One of the things that's always bothered me about the debt ceiling and about the sequester is that they've been touted as some sophisticated form of "game theory" that can somehow force Congress to make responsible decisions.  It's just not so.

    Today in Esquire I was given some space on Charles Pierce's blog to make that very point.  We'll find out, over the next month or so, just how important the Sequester is, or isn't.  I think that it's a sideshow and that the real issue is the debt ceiling, which should be repealed immediately.

    Beyond that, I think that we have to give up the notion that we can trick the government into giving us good policy.  Life doesn't work that way or, at least, our government doesn't.

    It's getting darned difficult to just watch the government actively injure the country the way it has been since the 2011 debt ceiling debacle and downgrade.  I'm never really convinced by "fall of civilization" narratives.  But, damn, it sure looks like we're bringing a whole lot of pain on ourselves sometimes, doesn't it?

    Topics: 
    Politics

    Comments

    You are right that it is very tiring to watch this go on. I was shopping today and noticed that the grocery store I go to now has the baby formula cans behind the front cigarette counter. It has been 5 years since I had to buy it and it was expensive then. It used to be with the baby food. They must be worried about theft. WIC is taking a reduction and this is a low income area. I ran into a neighbor yesterday at Big Lots in the food section. He is 85 years old and only has low vision left in one eye. We just live next to that strip mall where Big Lots is. He road his scooter there and was trying to pick out things he could cook. He was told this was his last week for Meals on Wheels. He has out lived his wife and kids. I helped him pick out a few things and explained how he could prepare them. I promised I would help him make cookies after we got home. I had to bring a egg because he didn't have any. It gave me a chance to see what the situation was. It looks like I will have to help him next week. Things must be pretty bad if they dumped him. I guess it will take more than poor and elderly to end this stupidity.

    by trkingmomoe on Mon, 03/04/2013 - 6:20pm

    Great article, Michael.  Congratulations on your Esquire gig!

    We live in the craziest of times and what scares me is that crazy is fast becoming normal.  Everybody knows this is nothing but pure political gamesmanship but nobody knows what to do about it.  That could get very dangerous, indeed.

    As you said,

    Well, the debt ceiling doesn’t work.Obviously. The sequester doesn’t work. Obviously. They’re both, in their ways, suicidal, but then as it’s become clear, our government isn’t necessarily opposed to suicide. They do seem to prefer it to work. So get rid of it all. There’s no game you can play that will force the government to agree on a reasonable budget. It is, as Bill Clinton said, all just math. Instead of worrying about fiscal gimmickry, go out there and elect some people who can use a calculator.

    As you said, the only way to fix this is to get smart in the voting booth.  (But that doesn't help us in the short term.  So here we are.)

     

    by Ramona on Mon, 03/04/2013 - 7:11pm

    Is Esquire the one with the pix and the fold-out?

    I think the repubs are happiest when nothing gets done; except it wears on them over time because their money grubbing campaign contributors WANT THEIR GOVERNMENT FREEBIES!

    I have to admit, I kind of got so sick of hearing about the sequester that I gave up!

    Besides, how on earth can one negotiate with a door knob? 

    And the Speaker is a door knob!


    by Richard Day on Tue, 03/05/2013 - 3:25pm