It's pretty clear to me that a main reason that the US Congress is so ineffective is that way too much power is in the hands of men, who tend to be both so incredibly stubborn, and so loudly combative. And they see every issue as black or white, with absolutely no shades of gray.
Unlike most Democrats, I think the S&P was correct in its judgment to downgrade the debt rating of the US Government, which is clearly broken. The $2 trillion assumption error the S&P made is peanuts compared to the too rosy real GDP growth assumptions used.
And I also think that the only way this S&P downgrade could have been avoided is if the Grand Bargain between President Obama and Speaker Boehner could have been reached, which reduced US debt by a massive $4 trillion in 10 years and by much more than $10 trillion in 20 years, which was balanced, at least to some extent, and more importantly, it also contained some wisely-designed, desperately-needed economic growth, with the resultant job creation flowing from it.
So many Democrats blame the Tea Party on the break down of the Grand Bargain Debt talks between President Obama and Speaker Boehner. Not me. I think the entire blame lies with the Republican Leadership in the US Congress.....all very stubborn men. It could have easily passed both the US Senate and the US House.
US Citizens are really hurting, and they expect the US Congress to deliver.
If more women had power in the upper echelons of the US Congress, things would get done, mainly because there would be more wise compromises made.
And since women make up more than half of the US, I think that, in all fairness, this Debt Reduction Congressional "Super Committee" should be composed of 50% women.
But more importantly, in order for this "Super Committee" to have the best chance of being effective, 50% of its members should be women, who are infinitely more effective than men at working across the aisle, and making wise compromises.
When I study the backgrounds of all members of the US Congress, I am really impressed. So what's wrong? It's the stubborn, harshly-insulting leadership.
Anyway, based on my thorough research of the financial backgrounds of all members of Congress, and my observations of how they reason on the House and Senate floors, I think there are clearly four leaders who stick out and thus who should be part of the Debt Reduction "Super Committee"......Mike Crapo and Dick Durbin in the Senate, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Chris Van Hollen in the House.
If any of those four are left off the "Super Committee", then that would be a clear injustice, and the country would suffer.
On the women side, here are some that I think should be given due consideration.
In the House, Nan Hayworth has the perfect background for this "Super Committee". Also, Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Laura Richardson look to me like they both belong on this key "Super Committee".
And in the Senate, I think Lisa Murkowski and Maria Cantwell both clearly belong on this "Super Committee".
On the men side, I would consider John Thune and Tom Coburn on the Republican side. On the Democratic side, I would consider Kent Conrad and Robert Menendez. All four of these guys are key players in the Senate Finance Committee.
But another guy I would put on this select "Super Committee" is Al Franken.....what an incredibly brilliant guy on just about any issue. He would be an outstanding addition, and really help this critical Committee to stay on target and reach its goal.
