Thumb in the Eye

President Obama’s timing is exquisite.  Just as the United States is Thelma-and-Louise-ing over the fiscal cliff, he decides to rescind the cost-of-living pay freeze on government workers that he imposed back in 2010 … see: Huffington Post.Story. This almost one percent increase in the cost of government salaries clearly sends a clarion message that he could not care a tinker’s fart about reining in government spending.  All he wants to do is to continue to bloat up things in Washington … and he wants, nay needs, tax increases in order to do it.  He is giving a thumb in the eye of the those in Congress who are concerned about his style of tax-and-spend Federalism.  And he is doing it in his typical cagey end-run around the powers of our legislature … daring them to deny themselves a pay increase … even suggesting that this is a near-bribe in order to get his way.

And of course our Senate is following suit in that they just voted a $60.4 billion relief package for hurricane Sandy victims which is strewn with all kinds of constituent goodies that have nothing to do with the hurricane.  How in the world will our government ever get even close to balancing its checkbook if they continue to pay disaster insurance claims when they have never extracted insurance premiums in advance from said victims? (See: WaPo Story). The answer is never.  That is, “never” until such time as our government totally runs out of money.  And the time of our fiscal Armageddon is rapidly approaching.  Still, our national media paints the Tea Party and other fiscal conservatives as the antagonists in this drama.  They should be ashamed of themselves.  Their thumbs are also aimed at the public’s eye sockets … only many of us don’t yet realize it.