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Or Whose Fault?

Saturday morning late.
It has been a very interesting two days with most of the news having to do with the raising, or not, of the National Debt Ceiling and the consequences of not raising it. First it was the threat of withholding Social Security checks from 40 odd million retirees even though they are not, by a law passed in 1990, paid out of the general revenue but from the "Social Security Trust Fund" which in turn is funded by the FICA (payroll) taxes. No President has the authority to withhold those checks therefore it is most likely that they will go out as scheduled. Then there is the threat that our Triple A credit rating will be downgraded by at least one of the rating groups. There is talk about how our rating may be dropped from a Triple A to a Two A or Two A plus which might, but not necessaily, raise interest rates, not only at the Federal level, but for everyone who owes or borrows money.

This morning, on television, we saw and heard Senator Harry Reid bemoaning the fact, as he saw it, that the Republicans wouldn't allow his debt ceiling bill to have an up or down vote only a few hours after he had tabled the second debt ceiling bill sent over by the Republican controlled House of Representatives. It appears that it is okay, in his mind, to disallow votes in the Senate on all Republican passed House bills but it shouldn't be that way on his bill. Is that because he is so much more superior to the lowly Republicans? We, being Independents, believe we have the right to criticize either or both sides.

At this time, we here on the hill, believe the best plan which has been laid out and voted on is the "Cut, Cap, Balance" bill (which was one of the House passed bills that was tabled by Senator Reid) but with a few changes. One of those changes could be the deferring of the "Balanced Budget Amendment" and replacing it with a guarantee (written and published) to bring it up for a vote, not a vote requiring 60 votes to bring it to a vote, but a real up or down vote within 60 or 90 days. That way we could see who was against a balanced budget. Since, we believe, that is why Reid won't allow a vote on those House passed bills it is not likely he would allow a vote on this version either.

Having said all of that, there is still one way to get a debt ceiling bill passed before August 2, 2011 or a few days later. If Senator Reid and his Democrat cohorts will, as they say, tweek his bill enough to pick up 7 or 8 Republican votes (Brown, Collins, Snow, McCain etc.) then send it over to the house as a bi-partisan bill with the full backing of the Democratic Party there should be enough Republican support to pass it without the Tea Party. Or would that be too simple? Yesterday we sent the following e-mail to a few, so called, news anchors on television;

"There is still a way out for the Tea Party Republicans in the House. If Senator Reid will tweek his bill enough to get support from 7 or 8 Republican Senators and that bi-partisan bill is sent to the House it should have enough Republican support so as to let the Tea Partiers vote no. Simple or too simple?" (Of course no one mentioned such a thing)

Meanwhile, here on the hill, it is still hot and mostly dry but our outside work is still being done by getting out early. The blueberries are about finished for the year, our early pears have been gathered, the peas and beans aren't making anything so that just leaves the grass and weeds but that's enough. Thanks for your time and input. Stay tuned. - William