At the time that I'm composing this blog entry, the US Government is yet again at the brink of a shutdown. Terms like "brinksmanship" are getting thrown about the media as the Republican Congress continues to square off against the Democrat Senate to come up with a budget that still allows them to achieve their ideological goals. In this case, this means their efforts to kill the Affordable Care Act, informally known as Obamacare. Both the Senate majority an the President himself have committed to block any Republican efforts to delay or stop Obamacare's implementation.
At this point, I have no idea where things are going to go. But I have a very strong hunch that things are going to get far, far worse before they get even remotely better. Both sides are prepared to gamble a lot of political capital in order to come out of this impasse the supposed victor. And that's never a good way to run a government. But despite how juvenile it all sounds, that's still worlds better than our corruption-rich joke of a Congress. At least they are fighting for key issues. We want to pass a bill to obligate restaurants to offer half-rice portions. THIS ACTUALLY NEEDS LEGISLATION???
If there is intelligent life out there, I'm pretty sure they're avoiding our savage little race. We're not worth the trouble, really. We're really not doing a very good job of proving we're the dominant species on this planet for a good reason.
But I still follow the news because I care about these things. We can't ignore the US shutdown since it will have major effects on economies around the world. The Philippines is bound to be particularly affected given how much of our income is tied to US outsourcing companies. And I still follow even the ridiculous bills being discussed in the Philippine Congress (and our horrible love for Blue Ribbon Committees) given it helps us understand why more important bills like the Freedom of Information Act can't seem to get past the committee level.
Reading the news is depressing, but it's worse to be ignorant.
At this point, I have no idea where things are going to go. But I have a very strong hunch that things are going to get far, far worse before they get even remotely better. Both sides are prepared to gamble a lot of political capital in order to come out of this impasse the supposed victor. And that's never a good way to run a government. But despite how juvenile it all sounds, that's still worlds better than our corruption-rich joke of a Congress. At least they are fighting for key issues. We want to pass a bill to obligate restaurants to offer half-rice portions. THIS ACTUALLY NEEDS LEGISLATION???
If there is intelligent life out there, I'm pretty sure they're avoiding our savage little race. We're not worth the trouble, really. We're really not doing a very good job of proving we're the dominant species on this planet for a good reason.
But I still follow the news because I care about these things. We can't ignore the US shutdown since it will have major effects on economies around the world. The Philippines is bound to be particularly affected given how much of our income is tied to US outsourcing companies. And I still follow even the ridiculous bills being discussed in the Philippine Congress (and our horrible love for Blue Ribbon Committees) given it helps us understand why more important bills like the Freedom of Information Act can't seem to get past the committee level.
Reading the news is depressing, but it's worse to be ignorant.
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