Disappointed? Yes. Suprised? No.

Our ship of state is still off course.  Am I disappointed?  Yes.  Am I surprised?  No.   

Today Yahoo.com carried a Reuters report by Tim Reid and Emily Kaiser titled, "Debt deal set to pass but what were the costs?"*  Their report provides valuable insights into the outcomes of the debt ceiling debate.  They wrote, "While the immediate crisis over a threatened default seems to have been averted by the eleventh-hour deal between the White House and Congress, the debt-limit drama has left behind crucial questions about the American political process...."  They also stated, "The long, tortured debate exposed toxic partisanship and legislative dysfunction in Washington just when judicious efforts at reform were most needed, shaking the faith of international investors and ordinary Americans alike."

The authors quote economists Christina Romer, formerly on Obama's Council of Economic Advisors, and Stephen Roach, a Yale lecturer and non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley.  Romer states, "If we don't deal with these deficits there is no way we won't eventually default and become a much weaker country."

Roach stated:

"Make no mistake, we are not getting a major breakthrough in America's fiscal dilemma out of this deal. Talk about kicking the can down the road - this is probably the biggest can that's ever been kicked."

Now let's enter the POLITIZONE and see what is really going on.

Our career politicians behaved just as expected; they avoided political risk and instead did what was politically expedient by "kicking the can down the road."  They then had the audacity to fawn all over themselves about what a great job they did for "the American people."  What do you think?  Did they act in the interests of the American people?

My hope is that as Reid and Kaiser pointed out, that "the debt-limit drama has left behind crucial questions about the American political process," is true.  That would be the most beneficial result from this latest insanity from our career politicians and the two parties that support them.  The problem is the process itself. 

We hope for change.  We vote for change.  But, nothing really changes.  To enjoy credible change we must begin to question the process.
 
 * The Yahoo.com report can be found at http://news.yahoo.com/debt-deal-set-pass-were-costs-045917154.html