Back From The Brink

The federal government averted a shutdown and possibly serious damage to the economy, thus denying late-night comedians opportunities for cheap laughs for their monologues Monday night.

As of this writing, details are sketchy, and we should learn more about the particulars in the week ahead. Planned Parenthood funding has been saved for the remainder of fiscal 2011, but the Democrats had to agree to over $38 billion in cuts to various social and discretionary programs. Many people are afraid President Obama gave away too much too soon, and, by the way, several critical infrastructure projects are on hold. (Aren't they all critical?) Incredibly, House Speaker John Boehner is under attack for conceding too much for the Republicans, and Tea Party activists are already threatening to produce a challenger against him in the next House Republican primary in his Ohio district.

It seems that both sides lost by stopping a shutdown.

Anyway, this isn't the real fight in determining federal budget policy for the next decade or so. The big fights come in crafting a 2012 budget and prioritizing the country's needs, along with raising the debt ceiling to keep the government able to borrow money. I believe the Democrats forfeited their objectives on this issue so they can figure out how they're going to cave on the next two.

I don't see much hope for this country in the immediate future . . . or beyond that.