Congress Gives Gift - Lump of Coal?

kaboodle.com

Do you really think that your payroll taxes are going to go up come January 1, 2012.  Admittedly, I think not.  At the eleventh hour, Congress will find a way to save face and get a deal done.  If they do not find their way to a compromise, 160 million Americans will be angry going into an election year.  Not generally something a politician wants hanging over their head.  One thing is for sure, Americans will not be angry with President Obama.  The President has worked this issue for months now and is clearly seen as the protector of the American middle class.  Congress, on the other hand, is destined to become the Christmas Grinch. 

This annual last minute bickering by Congress is getting old.  Do not forget that just one year ago, they were squabbling over the debt ceiling.  They settled that mess at the last possible moment too.  Congress is starting to remind me of the up and coming celebrity or failing Hollywood icon who believes that any publicity is better than no publicity.  I call this the Donald Trump syndrome or Trumpitis. 

A year ago, this very Congress failed to act in a mature and prudent fashion causing the marketplace a bad case of the jitters.  A credit downgrade followed.  International credibility was harmed.  Obviously, this Congress could care less of these concerns.  Here we are again, facing a deadline which will have a direct impact on millions of Americans and Congress is taking its sweet time to find compromise.  Just suck it up and get it done already.  The payroll tax credit is deemed critical by every economist for an improving economy.  Same goes for the extension of unemployment benefits. 

sincerelyanubis.com

Just five days till Christmas and all these wonderful, middle-class Americans have no idea whether they will be seeing less money in their first paycheck of the New Year or if unemployed, any check at all.  Maybe Congress likes the old television gimmick of cliffhangers. " Tune in tomorrow and see if John Boehner will succumb to the Senate's two-month extension". 

Last year, Congress gambled with our credit.  This year they are gambling with our hard earned cash money.   Does Congress really want to place a lump of coal in our stockings this year?  If they do not get a deal done, that's exactly what they will be doing.  If that turns out to be the case, this time around I do believe that all Americans might take notice and not forget such a gift.  Maybe the phrase, "throw the bums out" will not just echo briefly but indeed be the rallying cry for both Republican and Democrat.  Would that not shake up our nation's capital?  That truly would be breaking news.  Could you imagine not having one incumbent returned to office in 2012? 

It will never happen.  Congress will cut a deal.  The American people will forget and forgive their foolishness.  I'm almost hoping for the lump of coal.  A new body politic might be the best Christmas gift I could hope for.