A House divided three ways

The Congress, it seems, is quite willing to enact legislation that spends money. Bills pass with vastly underestimated costs for long term program implementation. But, Congress is very reluctant to pay for these same programs authorized by the Congress. How can this dilemma be resolved.

Leader Boehner thinks the solution is a Rubik's Cube problem.

His view, it seems is that the problem of underfunded programs can be solved by simply lining-up the colored squares on a three-dimensional, six-sided box of nine colored squares aligned in a two dimensional set of three rows and three columns for each respective surface.

Mr. Boehner's body of Congress has demonstrated neither the ability nor the inclination to move the squares to reach the necessary alignment. The preference seems to be to move a few of the squares around and let a future Congress take the necessary steps to align all the economic colors and surfaces.

The real preference of Mr. Boehner's party seems to be to look only at half the surfaces and leave the remainder of the squares un-addressed.

The problem, of course, is not a Rubik's Cube. The welfare of our country is at stake. Yet Congress, Mr. Boehner's party, most obstinately prefers to play silly blame games. They want to defeat the sitting president in the next election whatever the cost, even at the expense of destroying our country.

Mr. Boehner finds himself the titular leader of a split, contentious party that is bifurcated along the lines of the conservative and the radically conservative with the radicals seemingly having the upper hand.

Mr. Boehner is unable to lead this disjointed coalition with the normal conservatives having more of a pragmatic approach to governing while the radicals are more inclined to throw sand into the gears and eliminate any possibility of sane government.

The Republican Party has a majority in the House of Representatives. Mr. Boehner is the Speaker, the Leader of the House, but most specifically the leader of his majority party.

Unfortunately, the Speaker has developed neither the credibility nor the skills required to lead his party to a sane approach to government. We have gridlock, not the normal gridlock between the Republican and Democratic representatives, but rather, gridlock between two factions of the Republican Party. The radicals and the more liberal conservative Republicans seem uniquely unable to agree on anything.

How did we get to this stage of American government? Public apathy. The radicals were elected by an apathetic public that allowed a relatively small number of voters to elect a group of representatives who are as inept as any members of Congress have ever been. Their resolve seems driven by a misguided belief that they were elected by the American people to destroy its government. They seem hell-bent to do just that.

If the Republican Party is unable to reign-in its members, anarchy becomes a real possibility for our country. Disrespect for our country, our constitution, our way of life will destroy our peaceful society. We will be doomed to many years of painful recovery. What a legacy we leave for our children and grand children. Shame on us for our failure to be responsible adults.