Is It Time to Kick the Can?

Whether the politicians come to some kind of accord in regard to funding the government or they let time lapse and effectually shut down the government is not the real issue. Politicians have become professionals at using this dilemma to insert their priorities into any legislation that is created in order to avert a government shutdown.

The real issue is whether our government can come to some sort of long-term agreement about an effective budget. As it stands, the powers that be need to come to some kind of an agreement before midnight tonight. In most likelihood, this agreement if/when reached will just be yet another stop-gap measure to get us through a couple of months at best.

In other words, the best American citizens can hope for from their elected politicians is that they figure out how they can kick the can down the road a little bit further. This has been the common course of action for government officials who are either unable or unwilling to tackle the real issue: fiscal prudence.

Both Republicans, as well as the Democrats, continue to widen the divide between them as each side will attempt to include legislation that they favor as payment for their vote. Each side will use their vote to strong-arm legislation that would be difficult or impossible to pass without adding it as part of a funding extension bill.

This is not the first time the U.S. government is facing a shutdown for the lack of money. More so, the sad truth is that regardless of whether the government is able to pass some last-minute legislation, it is highly unlikely that they will tackle and solve the real issues that put us in this position in the first place, a balanced budget.

In fact, any legislation that will be proposed as a continuing resolution to fund the government will be composed of absolutely unrelated legislation that both sides cannot get passed without the threat of a government shutdown.

Even in the case that a stalemate is reached and no legislation is passed, the government will not be shut down. Politicians will still get paid. Essential services such as military, police, firefighters and medical emergency responders will be unaffected. Air traffic controllers will continue to keep planes flying.

However, it will be the soft government jobs that will effectively be hurt as a government furloughs those that run our national parks and museums.

The political powers have been getting better and better at handling a government shutdown. Since 1981 the government has been effectively shut down 12 times. These closures have lasted as long as 21 days and as short as one day. Politicians have for the most part used the threat of a government shutdown to force their own agendas down the throats of their constituents, rather than attempting to find common ground and actually solve the problems that create this scenario on a regular basis.

Once again, the government is heading for shutdown without a funding deal. This dilemma seems more and more like a broken record that nobody wants to fix, but everybody wants to listen to.

Wishing you as always, good trading,