A Breath of Fresh Air

Cross-posted to: lefttake.com

Reading this article early in the morning was a refreshing surprise.

Listen up Washington, we've been there

CNN asked some former politicians to weigh in on the debt ceiling debacle.
And they had some surprising things to say...

The crisis lies in the debt, not the ceiling. Kicking the can with a six months' ceiling increase is the worst possible alternative because it allows the politicians of both parties to continue making the Big Fiscal Lie. The Republican "no tax increase" position is preposterous; we are collecting less than 15% of GDP in taxes, the lowest since 1950, and spending 24% of GDP.

This from Republican David Stockman was a big surprise.  A republican advocating for tax increase?
Just goes to show that there are some in that party who have a smidgen of common sense.  That he goes on to say that the military budget should be slashed and that we should take a look at cutting the Social Security benefits of people at the top of the income scale so that the people on the bottom can have enough to live was even more of a refreshing surprise.

A debt ceiling bill is still a long way from home, but hopefully at least a temporary end to the game of chicken is in sight. The "Grand Bargain" is deferred, but hopefully not abandoned.
There is hope that Congress will act responsibly and bring the nation back from the brink of economic chaos.

William Frenzel further proved that there is some common sense among the old guys of the Grand Old Party.
Scott Lilly summed up things very well, reminding the electorate that you get what you vote for.  I hope that all those who voted in Tea Party candidates are paying close attention to the monster that they let out of the box.  Did ya all really want Social Security gutted to pay for more tax cuts for the corporations?  Are you happy being represented as a bunch of wild eyed sycophants of the rich?  Is this what you really want?
Remember, this is what Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, and Rush Limbaugh stand for.