Politicians and Recession

Politicians are frequently loath to mention the word, “recession” for fear that their acknowledgment of the possibility of such an event will trigger its actual occurrence, but such thinking gives a politician’s mouth more credit than it deserve. More often, it’s the politician’s actions, or lack thereof, that hastens the onset of the dreaded economic condition.

This failure to acknowledge the obvious works no justice to the American people. At the very juncture when steps could be taken to avoid the economic calamity that recession entails, officials most capable of affecting change are frequently too busy burying their heads in the sand and blindly hoping for the equivalent of an economic miracle, rather than rolling up their sleeves, acknowledging the obvious and moving towards a workable solution. By the time the political world decides to acknowledge the obvious, it’s too late to avoid recession’s juggernaut. Such is the case today.

For years, middle and lower class Americans have been struggling under the weight of higher and higher energy prices, soaring health expenses and a steady loss of quality paying jobs. That fact was obvious to anybody paying attention to the struggles of the common man. Since the middle class forms the backbone of the U.S. economy, the health of the economy is inextricably linked to their plight. It shouldn't have taken a rocket scientist to predict the recession that confronts us, just somebody with the guts to open their mouth. But alas, they were suddenly silent. Woe to us!

Equally maddening are politicians who see “recession” as an excuse for political gain, rather than a torturous cloud that chokes life itself out of the weakest enveloped by it. When the recovery of the common man’s malaise takes a back seat to the quest to secure an ideological victory for one’s political viewpoint, millions will suffer needlessly.

This Nation’s top economists widely agree that any government intervention to ward off, or lessen the economic devastation of the impending recession, must be narrowly targeted to places where the pain is most greatly felt, so as not to cripple this countries long-term economic health. Such a solution would require politicians to cast aside their desire for ideological gain in favor of securing a workable solution.

I’d like to think that was possible, but in today’s polarized political climate, I’m not too optimistic about the prospect and I’m not afraid of opening my mouth to say so!