Thursday, August 4, 2011

Highest Disapproval For Congress Ever


Seems to me that Congress lost this battle: Congressional disapproval at an all time high

(Source: http://saxangle.com/2011/04/natural-gas-breakout-on-nuclear-tragedy/capitolhill-2/)

Only 14% of U.S. respondents approved of the job that Congress has been doing. A good chunk of that is no doubt due to the irresponsibility of Congresspersons going on vacation while the lives and livelihoods of 74,000 people hang in the balance (see story here). While a temporary patch has been applied, I suspect the U.S. is in for another political debacle similar to what we just went through with the debt situation. Can approval numbers go negative? I'm certain that's how a lot of U.S. citizens will feel if Congress fails to reach true action.

The U.S. seems to be calling out for action and leadership. The current tax system is inaccurate and insufficient for today's requirements. We need strong, proper debate on a progressive consumption tax that will help middle-class families save for college tuition, retirement, homes, and rainy days. We need a proper debate on a value-added tax that will encourage corporations to invest in good business practices, both in equipment and human capital like training, education, and research.

The free market fails to address long-term issues, and it fails to accommodate social needs that move across geopolitical boundaries. Governments are supposed to think bigger than the individual, recognizing that small sacrifices on everyone's part allow for larger gains.

We need investment in education, not military weapons designed to kill more than just combatants. We need investment in clean energy policy, not in ways to steal energy from other countries. We need investment in fighting global poverty, so that citizens in the U.S. can feel safe from fear of attack. We need investment in science and the free flow of information, so that global citizens can benefit from new technologies.

We need leadership, leadership that is non-existent in today's Congress. We need a new party, one that focuses on the recommendations of economists, who have the data and the background to explain why market forces are insufficient in today's global context, and how we can address these issues so that U.S. citizens can reap the benefits of the examples of the welfare states in Sweden and Denmark.

But more than that, we need debate so that we as U.S citizens can do it better than the Europeans. It should be a matter of national pride that our employment rate is better than the Europeans. It should be a matter of national pride that we have the best healthcare for the best price in the world. It should be a matter of national pride that we instill in our children the values of education, tolerance, understanding, and social responsibility. It should be a matter of national pride that we extend the hand of peace and charity to those groups of people who are struggling just to meet basic needs, instead of threatening them with guns and bombs.

Where is our national pride? Not in Congress, obviously. So now what are we going to do about it?

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