Needed: rational actions in DC to support growth

From my perspective the current acrimony in Congress over raising the debt ceiling and structuring an affordable Federal budget has plenty of irrationality about it.

There's plenty of blame to go around everywhere on this: the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Administration, the Democrats, the Republicans and the so-called Independents and Decline-to-States all deserve a share. With that said, I'm going to avoid partisanship for the moment and try to substitute with rationality and logic.



What this country needs instead of the acrimony and its potential result of gridlock and stalemate is a well-informed analysis of the conceivable options for stimulating economic growth and improving the employment numbers. That will (hopefully) guide us into a well-informed debate about the desirability and practicality of those options, followed by (again, hopefully) reasoned and rational decisions on Federal government policies and actions that will stimulate economic activity in the USA and guide our economy onto a faster growth track.

What we do NOT need is a political process that drags on and on, possibly for the rest of this year and into next year. We need an immediate conclusion that clears the decks for the government to conduct its business and allow the upcoming 2012 elections to take place in a setting where the electorate can be educated on the candidates' positions on meaningful actions to support national economic growth, security and sustainability.

We do NOT need a political process that raises the specter of the nation not honoring debts and obligations that it has already incurred. But that is what is happening.

There is more to be said, but that is enough for now.

For background on the Federal debt ceiling, check out the New York Times Q&A, multimedia and graphic section on this topic at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/us/politics/28default.html?ref=us