The United States' economic situation is dubious at best, and anyone will agree that we are in a desperate need of shrewd financial decisions to steer it from catastrophe. NPR's recent coverage of a debt ceiling debate outlines the complexity of this situation and reminds us that there's no Washington without politics. It's really interesting to see how lawmakers stubbornly dig in their heels at the face of critical legislation, and the article gives you a really good perspective into the politician's heads. It quotes GOP strategist John Feehery on the simple truth that for both sides, policy becomes a question of how it will affect their primaries. Trying to simultaneously think of how to please constituents and provide a viable solution to the problem is a very demanding task, and in an effort to fulfill the former of these goals any attempt at conciliation oftentimes just goes out the window.
President Obama is having a very tough time balancing these two apparently conflicting goals, and the article shows how difficult it for him to keep public support an opposition party willing to work together. It just makes me really concerned how recently every debate has turned fierce and how polarized our government has become, but just as the ozone crises brought the U.S and the U.S.S.R together, hopefully an economic one will spark bipartisanship
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