Kicking-the-Can game

By Dave & Nita Anand

Shutters have been down since the U.S. government closed for business on October 1.

Democrats now think they are winning this "shutdown game" that resulted from "kicking-the-can-game," a game that both Republicans and Democrats have been playing for the past few years.

Like most children, we too, as children, liked kicking a can down the road and being thrilled by its bouncy trajectory before it came to a stop. Even today, we still kick one on a barren land, but these days, we pick up the can and put it in its proper place after fulfilling that uncanny childish desire.
 
The U.S. government shutdown we are in is in fact the road-kill from the kicking and rolling of the four government cans — namely, the annual budget, cumulative national debt, yearly deficit and the more recent sequestration. Experts are seeking the answer to the trillion dollar question: Will the intransigent congress and the president be lifting and placing those four government cans on a pedestal anytime soon or simply let them roll till they hit the Oct. 17 deadline when Treasury runs out of funds to pay bills?
 
If there is a solution to this shutdown mess, it will depend on how much each side gives and takes on reforms/fixes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka Obamacare), entitlements and taxes — the burning issues for the Tea Party section of the Republican Party that are behind all the congressional maneuvers and cause for the shutdown.
 
Before the October 1 closure, the House of Representatives offered several different proposals (Continuing Resolution or CR in congress jargon) to the Senate, where Democrats, hand in glove with President Obama, dismissed them on a party-line vote of -- NO, NO, NO, --.
 
The Senate Democrats first rejected the House legislation that provided funding for Medicare, Social Security, and veterans' benefits --- because it included the defunding of Obamacare that many experts say will drive-up costs and put the brakes on our recovering economy. Next, CR put to the guillotine the delay of Obamacare by one year and the permanent repeal of its medical device tax, followed by the rejection of the CR that sought fairness by delaying individual mandates in the fashion Obama delayed mandates on big businesses and insurance companies.
 
Also rejected was a CR with an amendment to end government contribution for lawmakers' health insurance and force them to join Obamacare exchanges like all other Americans. It is now evident the lawmakers want to preserve their special treatment in the healthcare matter and not be pushed into the 300-million plus sheep herd. (Incidentally, those healthcare exchanges are down due to many glitches).
 
Unfazed and spurred by Tea Party Republicans, including Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the House Republicans continued to pass piecemeal amendments to partially fund government programs after the "Pay Our Military Act" was passed and signed by the president. Ten more less controversial proposals are currently in the making, including funding for: infant nutrition, the Food and Drug Administration, weather monitoring, intelligence agencies, and Head Start preschool programs.
 
However, all this piecemeal stuff has led to - NO (conference), NO (negotiation), NO (compromise), and NO (engagement) position of Democratic Senate and the president since they feel they are winning the shutdown game. Republican House Speaker John Boehner recently erupted saying: "This isn't some damn game, the American people don't want their government shut down and neither do I."
 
Both Boehner and Obama find themselves in a very precarious position. While both do not want the U.S. to default on its debt, they are stuck on their principles. "If we're going to raise the amount of money we can borrow, we ought to do something about our spending problem and the lack of economic growth in our country," Boehner said while adding that he would not allow any "clean CR" without spending and/or tax conditions to address Republican Party concerns. Obama later countered by saying, "There will be no negotiations or compromise over these conditions; the American people are not pawns in some political game. You don't get to demand some ransom in exchange for keeping the government running."
 
Both parties know the debt ceiling must be raised, as otherwise there could be a global economic meltdown once again that would be much worse than the one in 2008 should America not pay for what it has already consumed and hence vitiate or ruin its "full faith and credit" standing it enjoys.
 
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Treasury will have only $30 billion in cash after Oct. 17 and no ability to borrow beyond its $16.7 trillion debt limit - meaning, the country would start defaulting on its pending bills, including benefits, salaries and interest shortly thereafter. Experts predict any bond default will usher in economic hell, not financial meltdown.
 
THE REAL PROBLEM
 
The entitlements of Social Security and Medicare, mostly spending on the elderly, keep rising with no end in sight; in 1990, they represented 28 percent of the budget. These grew to 37 percent in 2012 and by CBO projections, the two will amount to a walloping 43 percent of federal spending in 2023.
 
Economists like Robert Samuelson have trashed the Tea Party for its obsession with Obamacare, when its burden on the future government spending is quite minuscule compared to that from Social Security and Medicare. Like the two older entitlements, Obamacare is also a law, upheld by the Supreme Court and endorsed by the Americans in the 2012 election.
 
The solution requires hard decisions on the various components of the problem — paring down of Social Security and Medicare benefits; putting some burden on the richer elderly; raising taxes on the rich (individuals and corporations); cutting the waste (as with Sequestration to reduce deficits); etc.
 
Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress are derelict for not debating and focusing on the real problem, its components, and making the associated hard decisions. Unfortunately — Americans elected them and now ask the question — Why this shutdown? Instead of being servants, the elected officials have become their masters.

Americans must now wait till 2014 to fix their own bad decision!

As Independents, Dave and Nita Anand are more interested in the real problem solution than all the political dancing around it. Dave (danand55@gmail.com) has written and published two books: "People Super Highway, the Mystique & Quest of Soul" and "The Verses."