I am waiting for our personal financial world to implode in two days.
On Thursday, if the Congress can't come to an agreement to fund the government, our income evaporates. Most of it is already gone, because Ray is "furloughed" from his government job. Next to go will be military retired pay, veteran's disability pay, and my tiny social security check.
While we have done what we can to save and prepare, it is still scary to be staring down the barrel of immanent financial disaster.
I am not convinced that any political party really, truly cares about the citizens of the U.S. If they did, why would they let this shut-down and debt ceiling crisis persist? Now, I realize that not everyone is directly affected (yet) by the shut-down. Lots of people are inconvenienced, but not too many, as a percentage of the population, are directly involved.
If the debt ceiling is not raised, we will all be involved, regardless of our own personal political leanings or what our jobs are. We are concerned that our retirement savings will evaporate, that we won't be able to sell our home (that we can't afford to live in when we retire) and that things are going to be bad all over. This treatment is what Ray has earned in a lifetime of military and government service. It's disgusting.
The Russians said they'd bury us, Al Qaeda said they'd bankrupt us, but it turns out we don't need them. All we need is Congress. Personally, I put the most of the onus on the Republicans, a party I fled in the wake of Watergate and now do not recognize as the party I once was a card-carrying member of. I am sick of all the posturing and finger pointing and carrying on by the Congress. I want them to grow up and get on with the job they were hired for. I want them to actually care about the country, to be actual patriots and statesmen and stateswomen, and not just a pack of partisan, inflexible lip-servicers.
I am sure blame is to be borne by both sides. I do think the Health Care Act needs tweaking in several areas. But I do not think the Republican angst over HCA requires the ruination of the country. If they think it needs to be fixed, they should fix it, but first get on with the funding and the debt ceiling crisis. First things first. HCA is not an immediate danger, but funding and debt ceiling is. Get things straight, get your heads out of your own rhetoric and do your jobs, please.
I pray the people do not forget when it comes to voting time. Meanwhile, I am frightened about what comes next.
