What About The Debt Ceiling Deal?

Opinion & Perspective - Here's My Two Cents

Continued. August 3, 2011 / Queens NY / Queens Buzz. Near as I can tell, by reading a slew of news organizations' reports, nobody got all of what they wanted. And most were disappointed. But let's face it, these are the times in which we live. Tough times that should make appreciation of the good times, when they do return, that much better.

On the whole, after ten years of running up debt, America has finally begun to take steps to put its fiscal house in order. That's a good thing. And from what I understand, it was done without withdrawing too much of the fiscal stimulus [aka government spending], which according to most economists, is needed to keep this fragile economic recovery moving in the right direction. That's also a good thing. And each of these points represents an opposing point of view.

It's also important to note that the deal was structured so that we don't have to revisit government borrowing until after the 2012 election. The value of this is that the nation won't continue to be politically and economically paralyzed over the next year and a half - as it has been these past couple of weeks. In the photo to your left is a Ben Franklin Half Dollar. In many respects Ben Franklin was the leading architect of the American system of government, which was also preceded by a long drawn out raucous debate.

Although I didn't enjoy watching the last couple of weeks [who did?], I am inclined to view the debt ceiling deal struck this past week as a strike in America's favor - rather than as a strike against her.

Time to turn off the television and return to this summer's work and play. Enjoy.