Federal Budget

washingtonpost.com
December 27, 2011
Lori Montgomery
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/washingtons-year-of-drama-leaves-little-done-regarding-debt/2011/12/23/gIQAB6kRLP_story.html

Summary-
    Congress has spent quite a bit of time attempting to cut spending and get rid of the massive debt problem. Unfortunately, only a small sliver of that debt has been eliminated, and citizens' expectations of both major parties is extremely low. Eliminating the national debt is proving very difficult, but some politicians think that if any real progress at all can be made, opinions of both parties will improve.

Connection-
    The national debt crisis is not being well dealt with. The process is very slow, and part of this is caused by the system of checks and balances that was put in place for the purpose of having a balanced government, which was learned about in class during a governmental structure unit. The system purposely causes a slow pace to the develpoment of laws in order to ensure that bills can be as acceptable as possible to the groups involved before becoming law.

Personal Reaction-
    The national debt is being dealt with too slowly. Most of the problem seems to be the two parties clashing over minor details in order to look accomplished in the eyes of voters. If everyone could put away pride in order to deal with legitimate issues, America would be much better off.