Is America On the Edge of a Financial and Political Cliff?

There was a time when political parties of all stripes seemed to have concern for the overall well being of the country and some minimum shred of compassion for more unfortunate citizens. Sadly, that description seems no longer to apply to the Republican Party that seems concerned with the interests of two groups: (1) the extremely wealthy who want to pay less in taxes no matter the impact on the nation as a whole and (2) social conservatives who would be happy to see the nation revert back to a 17th century or earlier time frame when no social safety net existed. As for the nation's infrastructure or the health - indeed, the very lives - of the poor and down trodden, the mantra seems to be "who gives a damn, its all about me." As I have noted before many times, those who seem to care the least about the unfortunate (other than the extremely wealthy who have a Marie Antoinette mind set) are conservative Christians who display no compassion towards their fellow citizens. Indeed, hatred and open contempt are the main characteristics of how the "other" is viewed by these truly un-godly folk. Paul Krugman has a column in the New York Times that looks at the possible blood bath that may approach as the GOP controlled House of Representatives seeks to weak havoc on the nation. Here are highlights:
*
[O]ur nation is in much worse shape, much closer to a political breakdown, than most people realize. . . . Some explanation: There’s a legal limit to federal debt, which must be raised periodically if the government keeps running deficits; the limit will be reached again this spring. And since nobody, not even the hawkiest of deficit hawks, thinks the budget can be balanced immediately, the debt limit must be raised to avoid a government shutdown. But Republicans will probably try to blackmail the president into policy concessions by, in effect, holding the government hostage; they’ve done it before.
*
Now, you might think that the prospect of this kind of standoff, which might deny many Americans essential services, wreak havoc in financial markets and undermine America’s role in the world, would worry all men of good will.
*
[T]he G.O.P. isn’t interested in helping the economy as long as a Democrat is in the White House. Indeed, far from being willing to help Mr. Bernanke’s efforts, Republicans are trying to bully the Fed itself into giving up completely on trying to reduce unemployment. But, no . . .
*
[O]n matters fiscal, the G.O.P. program is to do almost exactly the opposite of what Mr. Bernanke called for. On one side, Republicans oppose just about everything that might reduce structural deficits: they demand that the Bush tax cuts be made permanent while demagoguing efforts to limit the rise in Medicare costs, which are essential to any attempts to get the budget under control. On the other, the G.O.P. opposes anything that might help sustain demand in a depressed economy — even aid to small businesses, which the party claims to love.
*
Right now, in particular, Republicans are blocking an extension of unemployment benefits — an action that will both cause immense hardship and drain purchasing power from an already sputtering economy. But there’s no point appealing to the better angels of their nature; America just doesn’t work that way anymore.
*
My sense is that most Americans still don’t understand this reality. They still imagine that when push comes to shove, our politicians will come together to do what’s necessary. But that was another country. It’s hard to see how this situation is resolved without a major crisis of some kind.