MEMO TO D.C.: GOING TO THE DOGS

MEMO 

TO 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

GUYS!  GUYS! 

BEFORE THIS COUNTRY GOES TO THE DOGS, 

CAN'T YOU GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER? 

(With apologies to the dogs.) 

"UGLY CHOICES":  "Treasury officials would have to decide whether to pay retirees on Social Security before or after active-duty soldiers, whether to forgo pay to federal workers or to withhold payment for services rendered by federal contractors. The list is long: In any given month, the Treasury Department issues about 80 million checks, according to the White House," is the way McClatchy lays it out. 

Stephen Walt calls it a "self-inflicted wound," in writing of the effects of the "budget battle and America's reputation." 

And patriotism? And pulling for the country? 

We have already seen that Alan Greenspan, whom the deficits scare, is now against the Bush tax cuts he supported as Fed Chair.