Now that the political air has been purified by Anthony Weiner’s departure, Washington can concentrate on its other endless fount of hypocrisy--money.
Many Tea Party purists, who came to Congress to force government to live within its means, we learn, have not been doing well on that score personally. Among 87 new GOP members, the Washington Post reports, at least 30 had liabilities totaling $50,000 or more in 2010--credit card debt, unpaid student loans, mortgages on investment properties.
The zealots who campaigned on the simplistic premise that the country should emulate families have not been doing well in setting an example.
“Like the rest of America,” one Texas Congressman had proclaimed, “the government needs to tighten its belt and work within its means” as his disclosure forms now show credit card debt of $45,000 to $150,000.
“If they’re responsible for their own personal finances, then they may have a mind-set to be frugal with the federal Treasury,” says a spokesman for Taxpayers for Common Sense. “But if they can’t keep their personal finances in order, then you have to wonder how they’re going to handle the federal budget.”
As the Misery Index (unemployment and inflation) for Americans rises, their representatives in Washington keep offering slogans but no relief, and superrich Mitt Romney makes jokes on the campaign trail about his own unemployment.
On the other hand, the Obama campaign is recognizing reality by holding a lottery for $5 contributors, giving them a chance at dinner with the President if, against big odds, their names are drawn from a hat.
Nobody is selling apples on street corners yet, as they did in the Big Depression, but the signs are there.
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