We Are All to Blame

I've only recently started reading George Packer. I find his past in terms of politics and ideology similar to mine. He was once an ardent Bush war enabler. Even arguing for the moral conviction behind invading Iraq. I was there too. Except I think I've been much more blunt than Packer about denouncing how wrong I was circa 2001-2003.

Packer's latest New Yorker column on just how insane the debt ceiling debate is has many sentences worthy of reposting.  To me, the article is not just about how immature our most current debate is but about the era as a whole.  We find ourselves divided between people who refuse reality and have no concern for anyone but the rich and those who are too scared to ruffle feathers to do what is right.

Representative Paul Ryan’s ten-year budget plan, which remains his party’s blueprint for the future, would impose a fifty-per-cent cut on programs like food stamps and Supplemental Security Income, which, as long as Danny Hartzell remains jobless, represent the Hartzells’ only income. By the last day of June, the Hartzells had twenty-nine dollars to their name. The Republicans in Congress won’t be satisfied until the family is out on the street.