I Wouldn't Mind If They Would Tell Time.

Half the country is running around worried sick about the national debt and deficit while the other half is worried about finding or keeping a job. So which is more important? Some say that if we don't address the debt and deficit our children's future will be destroyed, while others say that by cutting funding for education and research, there won't be a future to destroy. It's a little like the chicken or egg question. Which comes first? So lets take a look at the problem. If debt and deficit are more important, how will we pay them down if we keep laying off more and more people thereby eliminating the tax income we were getting from them? Isn't it more important to get more people working instead of more unemployed? And if we keep cutting spending, and our infrastructure keeps deteriorating, how will we be able to continue to compete with the rest of the world? And if our already weakening education system continues to slide for lack of funding, how will we be able to compete with the rest of the world in innovation which is the engine of success in the world's economy? Shouldn't we be trying to figure out how to solve these problems instead of bickering? Can you picture the new year as anything but a gotcha politics orgy? Right through to November? What if the Republicans came up with a great idea that would solve the all problems at once? Does anyone think they'd spell it out or try to enact it? Or that the Democrats wouldn't shout it down? What if the Democrats came up with that great idea? How likely would the Republicans be to endorse it? 2012 is destined to be a lost year. Well except for TV advertising and sign makers. Oh and don't forget the media and pundits. They'll make a killing. The thing is, we keep hiring politicians to solve problems and they keep creating more problems. Now they're trying to convince us to hire or rehire a whole mess of folks. What's to say the new crop will be any different than the old crop? They're like a cheap watch. They just won't work after you buy them.