1hundredsixty8

I have been out in the woodshed, as musicians like to say, studying up on the National Debt. I will report back on that topic soon.

As I anticipated, the Senate finessed its way around filibuster reform and approved a compromise modification worked out by Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell. The major casualty of this arrangement was the reformers' push for a rule change requiring the minority to have 41 votes to continue debate, and to actually maintain the debate by holding the floor.  It is difficult to gauge if the 41-vote rule would have improved the functioning of the Senate, but I for one am dejected at having the opportunity to watch hours of bloviating Senators on C-SPAN snatched away.

We are now well into 2013, the President has been inaugurated and the new Congress seated.  It still seems unlikely that the Federal government will be able to shake off its core fecklessness and accomplish anything in the way of affirmative policy-making. The Republican Party, as manifested by the recent change in tactics in the House in regards to the debt ceiling, seems to be caught in the throes of self-examination as it struggles with the reality of being THE minority party.  The Democrats, particularly President Obama,  but to a lesser extent, the Senate, have not shown that they can provide bold leadership. It is informative that neither party talks about the unemployment issue.

The dithering in Washington is cited as one of the principal impediments to more robust economic growth.  In general, economists see this year as one of continued recovery from the post-2008-financial-crisis recession, but not at the levels which would mean significantly lower unemployment. The spending-cut fervor emanating from both parties (in different ways and in different degrees, of course) is a further hindrance to acceleration in growth. I will dig into this when I post about the National Debt.

We are now in Super Bowl Week and I have so far avoided all media coverage- tv, print, online- of the upcoming game.  I am looking forward to a closely- contested match between two solid teams. I will probably watch the game alone,  conferring by telephone from time-to-time with trusted football confidants. As a former coach, I will watch with aesthtic appreciation, not with any rooting interest.

It is much the same attitude that I bring to watching our politicians joust on the banks of the Potomac.