The Blockheads

Europeans are rubbing their eyes in astonishment. What is wrong with the superpower, the United States of America? Why do two political parties fight so desperately that they are willing to allow the government to go broke, something that will result in massive consequences, ranging from government paralysis to an earthquake on financial markets?

What is happening is a collision between two ideologies: The conservative fundamentalist wing of the Republican Party fears too much government and see Obama’s health care reform program as back-door socialism, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has given it its blessing. The other side — Obama and most of his Democratic Party friends — consider the insurance mandate absolutely necessary in order to provide 40 million uninsured Americans with affordable health insurance.

The scariest thing is the legal ignorance of many Republicans, who are attempting to sabotage the accomplishments of America’s first black president: They refuse to accept the validity of a Supreme Court decision, thereby provoking a governmental crisis. However, Obama’s nonchalance is also difficult to comprehend. Despite the escalation of hostilities, he spent six hours on the golf course last weekend.

The next sword of Damocles after the “government shutdown” that furloughs thousands of government workers without pay is the uncontrolled growth in government debt, which will reach the statutory limit of $17 trillion by Oct. 17 at the latest. Why this explosion of spending is not finally reined in is impossible to understand.

In the event no government solution to this problem is quickly found, the country that likes to give fiscal policy advice to southern European nations will itself be bankrupt; the consequences may be worse than the threatening inability of the U.S. to pay its debts. The only hope is that the blockheads on both sides are able to come to their senses at the last minute.