And What Would I Say?

Reading the news online, I said to my husband that the fiscal cliff was all over the news and everyone and their cousin was being quoted.

He said : They haven't called me.

I laughed. But as I continued to peruse the news, the serious and the ridiculous - I thought about what he said.

They haven't called me either. And what would I say if "they" did? Get it fixed pronto? Lock 'em in a room  until they can come out with a solution? Think about it and all the people's lives that will be affected if the Congress elected to serve all the people continues to draw lines in the sand?

Democracy is not about perfection. It is about approximation. There are no perfect solutions - and heavens, what would I do if it were all up to me. Move one piece in the complexity and hundreds of other pieces shift. Some good shifts and some not good.

We take so much for granted. Streets cleared of snow, clean water running from the tap, police and fireman to show up when they are needed. Support for people who have less, children that are hungry, folks caught in a rapidly changing technological world and needing new skills to be employed. Retirement income and Medicare. And the arts and education. All this stuff is not delivered by a Santa sliding down a chimney - or by the tooth fairy.

Oh - gotta go. I hear the phone ringing . . .