The only thing more frightening than watching a ship sink is not knowing how to swim. So I watch with sadness as we head towards a path of government control. I'm unsure exactly how to feel, and that is because I haven't subjected myself to the subjective opinions of those trying to justify and those trying to demonize.
This past week, I was pleasantly surprised that the CBO declared the whole rats nest would be below a trillion. But then I can't really think of anything else to say with any clarity. On this matter, which I hope doesn't pass, here's what I believe. I believe that people like me who make good money and have a choice will avoid this like the plague, and that we will be taxed more for it. That we'll be resentful and pony up and grumble under out breath. That the same people who were extraordinarily overjoyed by the election of Obama will, in 12 months, realize that they've been sold yet another bill of goods and that it will be too late.
I haven't felt much like this since the days of Constructive Engagement when I flipflopped on the matter. The reason, then as now, is that sometimes reform is so impossible that even the best intentions and the best laid plans don't merit support. And so, America thinking its way rationally out of the bankruptcy of Medicare and Medicaid and finally Social Security seems like such a distant possibility that it may just be better off if the whole thing goes broke. I'm not skeptical, I'm cynical. I'm shorting the US Government and the whole brainwashed electorate.
Understand that I don't think by any respects that America is 'ungovernable'. It's just that the people in office have it so wrong and the public is so powerless that neglect seems to be the best option. That's where my head is at. As I said. Cynical. I'm so glad that I'm in the software business, but I can see even more why attorneys make out. It's astonishing how true that is. The American consensus is broken, and people just want to stay mad. Now is the time for courage, but I don't expect it. I expect civility to break down for a period.
Next week, I'm going to be in the wealthy part of DC. And as usual, I will continue doing my consulting work on the IT systems at Fannie Mae. I won't expect to see bricks thrown or pickets. I will expect to see us high-paid consultants build stuff that only we understand because matters of accountability go towards form rather than what's simply right. What's simply right is the enemy of political agendas that are locked in conflict, and that's where we are today. Anybody with half a brain could answer the question of whether or not there will be Federally funded abortions under the new proposal. A first year law student could write the text unambiguously. Instead we have all sorts of power and obfuscating forces on two sides of no consensus wheeling and dealing so that both sides can bark out that their side has won. And the answer at the end of the day of whether or not the matter is true or not will be "it's complicated".
That's how everything is going to be because that's what the President wants. It's complicated, and it's expensive. And it's his doing. Reconciliation is the enemy of truth.
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