It appears that a deal has been done on the debt ceiling issue in Washington- finally! Do I feel relieved? Absolutely not.
Our legislators were willing to put the country’s credit rating- and ultimately its livelihood- on the line strictly for political reasons. Of course, everyone has an agenda, but I believe that they have taken it too far this time. Sure, they have a watered-down version of what they consider a resolution, but in reality, they only kicked the can down the road a little.
Sure, the idea of a division of power in Government is smart, and most likely necessary, but only when it encourages the development of ideas over and beyond what one side could provide. Instead of ideas, we have been witnessing inaction of global proportion. The Democrats produce a plan, and the Republicans reject it on the basis of it not having enough budget cuts. The Republicans produce a budget, and the Democrats reject it because it doesn’t have any revenues from tax increases. Finally (as was planned all along), both sides agree to a plan that aims to satiate enough people on both sides.
This all after Congress took us to the brink of a Government shutdown just a few weeks back.
No wonder the economy seem to only be sputtering along.
The real estate market, which represents an enormous amount of the country’s GDP, not to mention a high percentage of the current unemployment rate, has recently seen another flattening of the sales trend. In the beginning of this year, just when we thought things were looking stronger, the market started to weaken, partially due to the pathetic unemployment numbers, but mostly as a result of the continual inability of Congress to implement a plan that promises positive results.
Locally, things may seem to be a little more promising, mainly due to the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) effort at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) in Aberdeen, MD. The closing of the Base at Fort Monmouth has scheduled to bring thousands of jobs to the area, but this is starting to wind down, and the unemployment in MD has even decreased. Additionally, with the effects from the pending Government budget cuts, it is likely that the impact from BRAC will ultimately not even be as significant.
Lame, last minute, band-aid repairs to catastrophic economic problems will only work for so long, but definitely promise to be the beginning of an era of pending disaster. Our country needs a long term plan that takes into account the impact of the growth of global markets, while identifying our current problems and areas of concern. We keep telling ourselves that this is the “greatest country on earth,” but how do we justify that?
