Liar, liar, pants on fire

As I write this column, I feel certain: The National Football League will have found a way to avoid shutting down while the yahoos in Washington will still be arguing about the debt ceiling as our economy implodes.

President Barack Obama keeps blaming Republicans for being unreasonable. Republicans keep blaming the president for not providing any precise data for what he is willing to accept. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Who’s telling the truth?

Here’s my take: Both sides are lying. And guess what: They will continue to do so. Neither side is about compromise. Both sides are playing politics.

For you Democrats reading this, enough with the George W. Bush got us into all this fiscal trouble with his wars, as well as deregulation of the financial systems. For you Republicans, enough with this angst about President Obama trying to turn the country into a model of European socialism.

Before you conservatives out there get your hackles up and defend that grand old party, and before you liberals do the same for yours, just listen for a moment.

Our political system is broken, and both sides are to blame. Political expediency has replaced compromise in our system of governance. About the only compromise that exists in this country is the manner in which people with good intentions compromise their values on the way up the political ladder. Can Obama,Pelosi, Boehner and McConnell, even our own Landrieu and Vitter, say they haven’t lied to us to get some political package passed?

If you believe they have not, then stop reading; this column is not for you.

Some examples of lying: Unions for Democrats, Big Business for Republicans.

Unions first. At the turn of the 19th century, unions were desperately needed. The little guy, blue-collar workers and immigrants desperately sought a better life. Tycoons controlled Big Business and they also controlled the working conditions, the safety conditions, the working hours, the pay, every aspect of business. Make money. Big Business’s philosophy: The heck with the worker.

Unions gave the workers power, and over time the blue-collar worker moved up the social ladder because of the benefits unions gave them. But over the years unions came to benefit the worker to the point of under-cutting the capitalistic system. I give you the auto industry a in this country as a prime example. It’s not that Democrats don’t see this; they do. But here’s the rub, they need union votes to win elections. Its “us versus them” philosophy unions and Democrats put forth, even when they both know that is a grossly misleading from both a capitalistic as well as a political standpoint.

Now for Big Business. Republicans can’t support the unions, so that leaves capitalism and Big Business. Let’s give Big Business tax breaks because they will help us win elections. Oh sure, loyal Republicans say that to keep prosperity, we must keep the moneyed interests investing and growing the country, but don’t for a minute believe that the Republicans leaders don’t know that can be taken too far to the point of hurting the common man, the majority, us.

In short, just like the Democrats, Republicans lie to us for political reasons.

So where does all of this leave us? With a political system that is essentially run by lobby interests, whether unions or Big Business, whether pro-Democrat or pro-Republican, that have only one interest: their own.

Now, I suspect you already know this. So you are probably asking yourself if I have anything really construction to say.

Well, yes I do (I hope). Pray for all the leaders good of the country. Hope and pray they get us through this difficult time with logic, fairness and humility. Forget donkeys and elephants for once and work for the common welfare.

And in the future, the very near future, pass laws that [1] minimize the amount lobby groups can donate, [2] provide for terms limits, [3] pass a balanced budget amendment, and [4] pass a flat income tax they nobody could skirt. Those are things that may not be in the Republicans and Democrats best interests, but they sure would be in ours.

Of course, that would mean the two parties, along with the president and both houses of Congress, would have to start thinking about a whole new concept: doing the right thing for all the right reasons.