I admit it. I’m a radical constitutionalist- who most would term a flaming liberal- because most of us fail to comprehend economics… Yet, I am a moderate fiscal-conservative.  (Oh, my, the term “conservative” linked to Roy Ackerman… What is the world coming to?) Because I know we can’t spend money we don’t have or can’t borrow responsibly. (Come on- that means in times like these, we have to borrow. Money’s way too cheap to not be repairing and rebuilding our infrastructure. If we wait much longer, there’ll be nothing left to repair…) But, I digress… I am a big fan of Steny Hoyer, the Congressman from (the 5th District of) Maryland, the Democratic Whip. (Don’t get me started on where I think he really should be in the pecking order…) On 19 September 2012 (today), he made me aware of a “game” that American Public Media (formed by WGBH [Boston], WNYC [New York, of course], KUSC [as in Southern California], and Minnesota Public Radio [If you can’t figure that out, please go away!]) has made available to us. It’s called Budget Hero – and, trust me, we have very few among our 535 folks under the roof of the US Capitol building. What Steny said was that it is very important that lawmakers (forget about us citizens)  learn to play this game. Because balancing the budget – and accomplishing objectives- is supposed to be the function of Congress. (Of course, Senator McConnell, with a ‘slip of the tongue’ admitted that the job of his party is to deny Obama a second term- ipso facto, the country be damned.) Go ahead, click on the link above. Check out the game. It’ll ‘learn you’ something. You’ll get the chance to try a bunch of policies out. You can choose those espoused by Mitt Romney. Which will show you how we can go belly up by 2025, because there will only be money for mandatory spending (Medicare, Social Security)- which is why Ryan wants to kill Medicare. (Oh, I know, he’ll give you a few pennies that won’t cover the costs for the insurance you need after three or four years of his program. Like that’s a solution.) Or, you can try those policies advanced by President Barack Obama. Woo Hoo! You win- we only go bust in 2028! Three More Years! Yup. You figured it out. If we can’t compromise and develop some sane plans together (raise taxes on those who make more than $ 250K of TAXABLE income [meaning we are really talking about $ 350K of gross income], cut spending on various items, stop the incredible buildup of Pentagon arms that the Brass don’t want anyway, etc…), then we’re done for. (Kind of what we saw on the silver screen for Mutually Assured Destruction in John Badham’s War Games.) And, the process requires continued diligence. (Now, there’s a novel idea!) And, if we work together to make America the great nation each of us thinks it is, then the economy can soar, we can innovate, and we can make the American Dream a potentiality and not a wistful memory… How about you elected folks? Can you stop playing games with our lives…NOW?????? Continue reading Game Theory →

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