After having some time to digest the so called ‘solution’ reached by Congress regarding the fiscal cliff impasse, it’s really disappointing to see how much bipartisanship has broken down in Congress, and now the Executive Branch. It goes without saying that the friction between the Republican party establishment and the Tea Party Republicans created a huge problem not only for Obama but also House Speaker Boehner, but what transpired is just absurd. Just hours before the deal was to be done, President Obama came out in a Pelosi-like finger pointing / grave dancing campaign stop complete with middle class working props, and almost derailed the deal that the people needed to avoid these sudden austerity measures.

While what has happened to the Republican Party is upsetting as far as this rebellious corp of Tea Partiers who seek obstruction and a “My Way or No Way” mentality, the entire culture in Washington is depressing at the moment. Both Parties and many levels of government seem more interested in assigning blame before even getting a deal done in the first place. I wrote a post earlier about the need to elect doers instead of idealists. Well as this Congress has shown us, perhaps we should add maturity to our consideration of our candidates and reward those who exhibit maturity and leadership instead and punish those who don’t (And many Congressional members haven’t), instead of not being involved in these Congressional elections / straight ticket voting down the line on either side. We give Congress a deservingly poor approval rating, yet the re-election rate of Congress is north of 90%. It’s time for change, and it starts with a more involved electorate.