Why Does Washington Screw Everything Up?

Last Sunday, December 5, we began a new quarter of Sunday School lessons.  The writer mentioned that at the time he was writing, the national unemployment rate was dominating the headlines  and was at nearly ten per cent.  There is a lead time of about one year  on the lessons, which reminds us how long and persistent high unemployment and a poor economy have been hurting this nation.  Bringing this closer was the writer's revelation that he had lost his job to downsizing.  Most people have a relative, a close friend, or a neighbor who is out of work and searching for a job.  Washington has made conditions worse with its stimulus boondoggle  and a flawed health plan.  Thank  heavens the cap and trade program the Obama administration pushed so hard for has died, at least for now.  That would have been the third strike and out for our economy.

As I write this Congress has not yet voted on whether taxes will go up January l or stay the same.  Everyone agrees that increasing taxes during a bad economy would be disastrous, yet Congress cannot take a simple action.  Everything has to be complicated and screwed up.  We should extend the Bush tax cuts and not add any more spending.  The president and Congress are loading down what should be a clean bill with all types of spending, including more subsidies for ethanol, solar and wind.  Damn it, we should be producing more coal, oil and natural gas and stop importing energy. Let so-called green energy sources compete. Forty per cent of all corn grown in this country is made into ethanol, an inefficient way to produce energy.  Wind and solar should not be subsidized, and there should be no incentives to buy certain cars or appliances.