We’ve all been warned about the looming fiscal cliff. During the campaign, the Republicans would often point to a clock counting off to the moment of our economic apocalypse. That may be a bombastic way to hype a self-inflicted financial disaster. But it is true that if the Republicans and Democrats can’t come to some sort of compromise by December 31, we will be in a economic pickle of no one’s liking.
And there’s that word – compromise. It’s an important one. I even snuck it in the title of this blog. Birds do it. Bees do it. Even educated Democrats do it. Unfortunately, 95% of the Republicans in office have signed a pledge to a lobbyist named Grover not to compromise when it comes to raising taxes. That means not agreeing to extend the Bush tax cuts for 98% of Americans if the top 2% don’t get to keep them. They’ll tell you that it’s because without the lower tax rate, “job creators” won’t be able to create jobs. It seems to me that the job creators created a lot more jobs without it under the Clinton administration than they have since. But the real reason is because if they renege on their pledge to the Great and Powerful Grover, he will not allocate any money to their next campaign. After all, they want to save jobs … their own. Unfortunately, that stubbornness has created the gridlock that has downgraded our economic status and stalled our recovery.
Since the election hasn’t really gone their way, the GOP are beginning realize that the people aren’t particularly fond of gridlock. As more people become aware of their subservient relationship with the lobbyist, some key Republicans are subtly starting to distance themselves from Grover. As an artist, I’ve tried to do my part to help that process along with my painting “Who The Hell Is Grover Norquist?” Do your part and pass it around. Let’s convince the Republican leaders to lead instead of following a lobbyist like junkies to their dealer. It might put them in a more “compromising” position.