Cliff Diving
Charlie Earl
The three
words that best describe the so-called “fiscal cliff” scenario are: cowardice,
perfidy and incompetence. Certainly there are other descriptors that can be
used, but they would be additive rather than demonstrably definitive. Personally
I’m not all that concerned about the fiscal cliff. In my mind it ranks right up
there with debt ceiling increases, budget deadlines and all types of “reforms”
such as taxes, entitlements and spending. The bottom line is that is filled
with drama with little real meaning. Federal fiscal matters are all based on
imaginary numbers, wishful forecasts and unaccountable spending. So…whatever
the final resolution of this immediate problem may be, it is NOT REAL.
Unlike the
talented performers of Acapulco, our political cliff divers never come up for
air nor do they find hidden jewels while underwater. No, our nefarious divers
take the nation underwater and keep going until we hit bottom. Some folks may
believe that the political will to jump off the cliff is a sign of courage, but
any one of us would willingly leap off a cliff of unimaginable heights if we
were escaping a raging fire. It was our fearful leaders playing with fiscal
matches that caused the current conflagration. They set the fire with their
irresponsibility, and they fueled it with their massive spending. Now they want
us to applaud them for their willingness to go over the cliff (and jump the
shark?). They believe that we will be grateful when they avoid immediate
catastrophe (in their view) in order to insure a more devastating one later on.
None of them would qualify to audition for a role in Braveheart.
The
unmitigated deceit of the political class and the inexcusable ignorance of the
citizens have combined to lead us down this path of treachery. We have
squandered our inheritance by lying to ourselves and permitting our political
leaders sugar-coat reality. Even when they mislead us, they do it stupidly. The
so-called fiscal cliff requires across the board “spending cuts” and a larger
portion for defense cuts. There is no doubt that spending is excessive, and the
only valid constitutional spending cut would be in the neighborhood of 90% or
more. To legislatively require mythical across-the-board reductions is
meaningless and stupid. With the exception of defense there is no
prioritization, no benefit analysis and no plan for the reallocation of fewer
resources. In other words….they don’t or didn’t expect the “over the cliff”
outcome to occur. Their idea of a worst-case scenario is when the markets will
no longer loan them money or when the taxpayers are tapped out. Any other
predictable outcome can be delayed according to their perfidious calculations.
One of the
facts about government and elected officials that has mystified me for many
years is “how is it possible for a rational sensible person to get elected and
then immediately transform into a blithering idiot?” I do understand the bogus
manipulations of our national and state budgeting processes, but to pretend
they are real suggests that someone needs serious psychological help. Indeed,
I’ve had members of my family who were diagnosed as marginally functional in
cognitive skills. Yet…they could manage their own affairs more sensibly and
reasonably than the clowns in D.C. and our various state capitols. What is it
that causes an IQ to plummet to single digits upon the receiving a “certificate of election?” Is it caused
by consuming too much rubber chicken or swiss steak during the campaign?
Perhaps the weeks and months on the road while surrounded by toxic auto fumes
have caused severe mental (and ethical) deterioration? Nevertheless…we end with
irrational incompetence in the halls of power.
So…here we
are…poised on the precipice of the “fiscal cliff.” The rhetoric and angst surround
us like an amniotic fluid of disaster. Whatever they do will be wrong. Whatever
they do will cost us property (money via taxes) and liberty. Whatever they do
will be unconstitutional, illegal and immoral. Whatever they do cannot really
matter because they don’t matter. Jump! Come on in. The water is fine.
Charlie Earl
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