Washington, D.C.: We sent in the clowns

We sent in the Tea Party clowns, and they’re giving us quite a show. Of course, they are ably assisted by their associates in Congress, the president and the rest of those we hired to run our government for us. It’s hard to decide who belongs in the center ring, with so many deserving participants.

I’m writing this just days before the debt default deadline on Tuesday. By the time we go to press, some 11th-hour effort will no doubt have avoided actual default, but no effort can erase the damage that has been done. Our elected leaders have staged a circus these last weeks that pre-empted reasonable legislative process.

Today the stock market slid 200 points. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? For weeks we have observed the spectacle of our government coming apart in a very public performance. We have witnessed the mean-spirited fighting, lying, backroom maneuvering and narcissistic posturing of our hyper-partisan representatives. Nose to nose, aggressive and unyielding, the people we sent to run our government have put party, personality and ego before their sworn duty.

The world is watching with great interest as we embarrass ourselves.

How ironic that over the past 10 years, our national obsession has been to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden, whose mission was to take down the U.S. government and destroy our economy. Stunning, isn’t it, to think of the money, human resources and national anxiety spent on stopping bin Laden? And think of the sheer will of the man to focus so single-mindedly on crippling our nation. Apparently he needn’t have tried so hard, because we’re doing the job for him. This was a made-for-prime-time crisis. It didn’t have to happen this way.

As most of us know by now, the debt ceiling has been raised more than 100 times by presidents on both sides of the aisle. It requires a one-sentence resolution to be passed. But this time, the usual lumbering train of legislative process was stopped in its tracks. Partisans on both sides threw bricks onto the rails. The concept of high-spirited, dare I suggest high-minded, negotiation evaporated in a cloud of hateful, demonizing rhetoric. The general good, the will of the people, the safety and economic security of the United States fell victim to polarized partisan rancor.

The real and obvious necessity — the no-brainer — to raise the debt ceiling, along with putting into place deep spending cuts and higher taxes for some somehow eludes those we trust with making the big decisions.

The lesson for our children and grandchildren: You can spend all your money and then you can spend more money and promise to pay it back. It doesn’t matter if you actually do pay it back; you just keep buying and borrowing.

Also, kids, if you’re fortunate enough to get elected to public office and are entrusted with making decisions that keep the country safe and sound, don’t worry too much about that part of the job. As long as you keep getting re-elected and lasso a good salary with great health benefits, don’t fret too much about whether your fellow citizens have jobs or are able to feed their families or save for retirement.

We’ve all had that kitchen-table conversation. You sit down with your partner and you figure out how much money you make and how much you’re spending and if the numbers “work.” If you’re spending more than you make, you either figure out how to spend less or make more, or both. It’s pretty simple stuff, but the concept has eluded the grownups in charge of our government.

Many of us feel disappointed — no, more than disappointed, disgusted — with what we have witnessed in Washington these past weeks. The newly elected Tea Party freshmen have taken the government hostage, and neither their colleagues nor the president seem to know how to bring them into line.

They may get thrown out of office as quickly as they were swept in, but the damage they have done is etched in memory. We won’t soon forget this legislative season and its impact on the dignity and reputation of the U.S. government.

Copyright © 2011 Randi Kreiss. Randi can be reached at randik3@aol.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 304.