Now that the nation’s voters have returned President Barack Obama to office for another four years, the real challenge for the government lies ahead — how to end the partisan gridlock that has paralyzed Washington for too many years.
Tuesday’s election changed little. The president was re-elected, Democrats retained control of the Senate, and Republicans are still the majority in the House of Representatives. All of that is a recipe for more in-fighting.
But the gridlock is especially worrisome at this juncture. Tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush expire on Dec. 31, meaning higher tax rates for all Americans. On Jan. 2, $109 billion in across-the-board spending cuts will take effect unless Congress acts. If the higher tax rates and spending cuts are put into place, economists believe a “fiscal cliff” would drain about $600 billion out of the U.S. economy in 2013.
For his part, Obama is talking up unity and cooperation. Part of the Democrat agenda is cutting budget deficits by asking wealthy Americans to pay higher taxes, while extending lower rates for the middle class.
Republicans will likely have none of that. House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday: “For two years, our House majority has been the primary line of defense for the American people against a government that spends too much, taxes too much, certainly borrows too much, when it’s left unchecked. With this vote the American people have also made clear that there’s no mandate for raising tax rates.”
Poll after poll shows the American voter is fed up with partisan fighting and gridlock. It’s a lesson few in Washington have learned. Unfortunately, many of those slow-learners were returned to office on Tuesday.
Opinion
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Gridlock
Gridlock
Election leaves worst problem unresolved
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Maryland has stopped being “The Free State”
I am a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and, last but not least, the National Rifle Association. I am a yearly member of the American Legion.
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Outrageous
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
This amounts to spying on an American news organization — common practice in dictatorships but scary conduct in a democratic system that prizes the public value of an independent watchdog press. -
Save the Bridge Program
Please do not close the Frostburg United Methodist Church Bridge Program. The community and many families need this program. Let me enlighten you about a few things.
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It’s good to be the queens
One of the many nuggets of knowledge that Crash Davis tried to bestow upon Nuke LaLoosh in the movie Bull Durham was that ‘strikeouts are boring. Besides that, they’re fascist.’
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Harper just needs to stop scoring the wall
• Happy birthday, Brooks Robinson. No. 5 will be 76 tomorrow.
Remember, in the words of Gordon Beard, “Brooks Robinson never asked anybody to name a candy bar after him. In Baltimore people name their children after him.” -
Town of Westernport needs a police force and a curfew
Since the consolidation of Bruce and Valley high schools the town of Westernport rapidly deteriorated from what was once a quite respectable community to a community in a decline in residents, and along with that came a collapse in local government due to lack of knowledge and bad decisions that set the town of Westernport back 60 years.
One bad decision was to give up their police force, and with no constant visual law enforcement it has created an open range for drug dealerss, addicts, thieves, drunks and speeding vehicles that choose to ignore our city laws and speed limits and have totally disregard for the safety of the citizens who are on the streets, especially the children who are like deer, you don’t see them until their in front of you. -
Financial gutting will damage school system
I am writing in response to the Allegany County Commissioners’ efforts to cut local education spending to the lowest possible level allowed under state law.
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Cemetery organization plans events to mark Memorial Day
This upcoming Memorial Day marks the 30th anniversary of the Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization (CHCO).
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Rowley proof of experience breeding opportunity
When Bob Rowley learned of the fund-raising efforts to help provide Fort Hill football player Zac Elbin the opportunity to play in the Down Under Bowl this summer in Australia, it became a mere reflex for him to make a significant contribution on Elbin’s behalf. For while very few area high school football players have followed in his footsteps, Rowley, the former Fort Hill great from the late 1950s, had certainly walked in Elbin’s, having faced similar circumstances following his senior year in high school. And thanks to the support of the community, Rowley says he was able to realize an opportunity of a lifetime.
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Better fix it
The West Virginia Division of Highways should not give up on improving safety at the intersection of U.S. Route 220 and Stoney Run Road in Keyser merely because the intersection does not meet the state’s criteria for a traffic signal.
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Maryland has stopped being “The Free State”
