The State of Affairs in Capital City

The old saying goes, “another day, another dollar". I am not sure of the origin of this wisdom but in today's political parlance it is "another day, another $ 4 billion dollars", the approximate amount the Federal deficit increases each and every day. So, what are these days bring us?

Politics in Washington has settled down in the past few weeks. The President is out campaigning, of course, having given up long time ago trying to actually lead, attempt to suggest any realistic or constructive solutions to the problems the country faces or make any real decisions. And, why not? He will have plenty of time to do as he deems fit after the election.  His substantive inactivity is probably for the best, as while good at recognizing problems, he is horrible at the solution part.

Mr. Romney is out re-organizing his campaign for the general election now the bruising and inane primaries are over. Plus, there is tons of money to raise. In addition, he has to worry why he has all these problems. We are told by the mainline press and liberal pundits, Hispanics do not like him, women do not like him, young voters do not like him, blacks do not like him, the 99% resent him, the 1% will not vote for him, unions hate him, environmentalists despise him, dog lovers diss him, and conservatives do not trust him. Kind of makes one wonder how he got this far and how he would he ever stand a chance against such a well-liked, successful and capable incumbent President presiding over a united country boasting a thriving economy and a fiscally sound government. 

Not much going on in Congress. There will be a conference on the Highway Reauthorization bill beginning on May 8th. The bill basically takes our gas taxes and channels them to various worthy and non-worthy construction projects, mass transit subsidies and paving bike paths. Since the bill is likely to be one of the few pieces of major- or semi-major legislation to pass before the election, it is being treated like the Magna Carta. 

Oh, forgot the USPS. I am a big fan and user of the mail. The Senate passed something that appears to be rearranging the chairs on the deck before the former government giant slips under the waves. In order to survive and be viable, the tough decisions need to be made now and the USPS has to be able to do what is necessary to address what ails them. The fate of the USPS will come some day, just not today or tomorrow either

Some more news, looks the economic recovery is not as robust as the Administration touts with First Quarter growth a bit over 2 percent, not even treading water. Hard to understand why stock prices are strong, but profits are good and overseas markets and manufacturing are more than strong. About the only thing the country has going for it, is cheap natural gas for manufacturing. But, don’t worry, EPA will stop that.

This past week, the Supreme Court heard arguments on Arizona SB 1070, legislation empowering the State of Arizona to do what the Federal government refuses to do and that is enforce existing immigration laws. The whole mess is so troubling and did not have to be this way.

 Unfettered, unchecked illegal immigration has been allowed to go on for the past 40 years. It has polarized and stigmatized segments of the population, changed the culture of the country, (press 2 for Spanish) financially crippled state and local governments, created a cadre of xenophobia, help spawn pockets of poverty and violence, broken up families, ruined once vibrant border towns, and despoiled areas of pristine countryside. I do not fault the masses fleeing for better opportunity, but I do blame the current Administration (and many past Administrations), Congress for cowardly non-action and parts of the business community who only want to exploit cheap labor.

In any event, SB 1070 was a frustrated reaction by the State of Arizona to an intolerable situation. The challenges to SB 1070 by the Administration were political, of course. The decision of the Arizona law will be quite interesting, important and telling and have big consequences when announced in June. This issue will be around for a long long time.