When the smoke finally clears on, or after, Aug. 2, 2011, the result of our Washington debate over the debt ceiling is not going to be how much the ceiling was raised.
These issues may be important now, but my guess is they will be only a minor blip on the screen of our political radar’s history, lost as mere numbers in a struggle over ideology. It isn’t going to be about the winning or losing of political power brokers. It is my belief the history books are going to record this as the start of America’s 21st century revolution.
Nation after nation in the Middle East (Egypt, Libya, Syria) has gone, or is going, through their rebellions over freedom and economic issues. Traditions have given way to new ideas and modern ways of life and women are being granted unheard of rights in some countries. America has already been through those internal issues and reaped the benefits of change in lifestyles and economic success.
Americans, I believe, like a challenge, and the fruits of our independence and cultural freedom are now demanding a challenge of change back to reality.
Several things lead me to believe we are just scratching the surface of change and time alone will tell if this is to be a long drawn out process or even a continuing process. Last year’s elections brought a lot of new faces to the Washington political scene. The House of Representatives has seen major changes in the political party in power (Republicans) but more importantly the new faces bring with them a new attitude - probably considered defiant by the old guard political machines. Our representative of this District in the House is definitely a Republican, but was not a career Republican politician who worked his way up through the party system.
He carries no political party baggage that comes with a history of party affiliation and “party support” and I believe he is a good example of what the last election cycle brought to Washington.
The Senate, with old-guard members in control, still carries much of the same “always done it this way” mentality and loyalty to the same-party president. This is evident to anyone watching a news cast showing the leadership of the two bodies during a news conference. When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) holds a news conference, we see him surrounded with long-term politicians generally recognizable as party strongmen (politically of course, not physically).
When House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) holds a news conference, the representatives joining him are not necessarily familiar faces and most frequently include new people. And, when the television news media is busy interviewing House members on their views regarding the raising of the debt ceiling, they frequently go to the newly-elected members who generally declare strongviews of the need for a new way of approaching government policy. These views tend to express a freedom from party dependency.
In no way do I believe we want to default on our bond payments. However, depending on the source, you get all kinds of opinions about how close we are to default and how significant the Aug.
2 deadline actually is. This leads to the other aspect of this revolution in my way of thinking. Can we trust our elected and potential leadership to give us actual figures on which to judge our candidates? Does the establishment in Washington control every aspect of the information we receive? If so, can (or do) they alter the numbers to sway our opinion when we support a political party or select a political candidate ?
We are hearing new numbers coming forth now about our nation’s economic growth during the George W.
Bush administration. Maybe when the smoke clears we will know more about the reporting mechanism, who calculates which numbers to benefit whom, and maybe it too will lead to some change.
The dropping out of gasoline and food from some indices allows one to show “no change” in the cost of living but is simply a false presentation of the facts and too frequently doesn’t have the little “asterisk” to note what is no longer included.
There has been a certain rhythm to politics established over the years in Washington. (It leads to the philosophy I think of as “I win and my supporters win and the consequences are hidden.”) It appears that therhythm has been disrupted by the drum beat of a group associated with the name TEA Party. Since the political party TEA doesn’t exist as such, it is hard to define, but it might be a political philosophy with a desire to actually understand government as it really exists today, not as we learned it was when we were in school. Maybe that is the true purpose rather than being a means of ruling middle and lower class America. It is entirely possible that the TEA Party is not unlike the independent small-acreage farmer who joins a cooperative to market his product. A “cooperative” is OK, but he might be too independent to join a “union.”
The winds of change are blowing. They cut across party lines and sweep into the core of America’s political fabric. They now seem to carry more of a Republican theme than a Democraticlabel, but that is only our lack of understanding and misuse of the word “conservative.” Every household in America that survives without a direct government subsidy or check of some kind is “conservative” by its very nature - just to exist.
It is doubtful that I will see this American-style revolution through to its completion, but I pray it will benefit my sons and grandchildren.
Please GOD, bless America in this time of change.
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Editor’s note: Leo Lynch, a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Opinion, Pages 4 on 08/03/2011