Listen Up Washington, We’ve Been There
With each passing day our nation moves closer to having too little money in the treasury to pay our bills. Economists and business leaders warn of the impending irreparable damage to the dollar, to credit markets, household finances and the good faith and credit of the world’s largest economy, but there is seemingly little awareness that much of the damage has already been done. Around the world, the nation seen only a few years ago as possessing remarkable capabilities relative to those of all other nations is now viewed as a dysfunctional society.
What went wrong?
I think the best answer is that reasonable people can have two very different interpretations of the "message" sent by the voters in the 2010 congressional elections.
One is that the American people have had it with big government, Washington is out of touch and citizens want to keep more of their tax dollars in their own wallets even if that means massive cuts in federal programs. In the last elections, the Republican Party certainly campaigned on that platform. No one should be surprised that they are pushing it as far as they can.
Read more here.
This article was originally published in CNN.
To speak with our experts on this topic, please contact:
Print: Katie Peters (economy, education, health care, gun-violence prevention)
202.741.6285 or kpeters1@americanprogress.org
Print: Anne Shoup (foreign policy and national security, energy, LGBT issues)
202.481.7146 or ashoup@americanprogress.org
Print: Crystal Patterson (immigration)
202.478.6350 or cpatterson@americanprogress.org
Print: Madeline Meth (women's issues, poverty, Legal Progress)
202.741.6277 or mmeth@americanprogress.org
Print: Tanya Arditi (Spanish language and ethnic media)
202.741.6258 or tarditi@americanprogress.org
TV: Lindsay Hamilton
202.483.2675 or lhamilton@americanprogress.org
Radio: Madeline Meth
202.741.6277 or mmeth@americanprogress.org
Web: Andrea Peterson
202.481.8119 or apeterson@americanprogress.org

