A Message from Business Manager Chris Erikson
A lot is happening. The most important development recently was the passing of the bipartisan bill in both the U.S. House and the Senate that the President signed suspending the national debt ceiling for two years. Sanity prevailed and the world let out a long held breath of air. The market actually went up over 700 points Friday on the news. President Biden did the most responsible thing by negotiating a settlement in good faith for the good of the country. Let me repeat that: he negotiated a settlement in good faith for the good of the country. He did what a statesman is expected to do. Republicans were focused on cutting spending and significantly expanding requirements, making the poor work for the relief the government gives them and keeping the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy. They were ready to force the government to default on its debt by not voting to raise the limit, regardless of the ramifications. Some on the far left were just as bad, giving no ground, no negotiations, blowing it up, and blaming it on the Republicans. The hardcore right said the same thing, let it blow up and blame it on Biden and the Democrats. Who would have suffered if either side dug in or the extremists on both sides voted the bills down just to make a political point regardless of the ramifications that would have reverberated around the globe?
We actually narrowly ducked a bullet. Biden was able to protect his recent legislation on clean energy, healthcare, and infrastructure. But what about next time? Too many elected officials voted “no” after they knew it would pass to satisfy some of the nuts that put them in office. Not everybody is going to be happy with the decisions that leaders make, not only in politics, but in our organization as well. Taking necessary actions or making the right decisions that may not be popular is what responsible leadership is all about. Biden wasn’t weak. He was experienced, he exercised good judgment responsibly, and most importantly, he schooled his adversary in how to make a deal for all Americans.
