Will politicians Rise Above or send us over the financial cliff?
Posted By RichC on November 17, 2012
There is a Rise Above movement afoot and it is being promoted by business news network CNBC. Supporters and business leaders from both political parties agree that politicians must work together to focus on the 
financial health of our country and rise above partisan politics. We have yet to see progress and the stock market has punished investors; those saving for college or retirement will certainly see this impact in their next statements. It has been a painful month for everyone invested in stocks or mutual funds, not to mention the overall economy.
Friday offered us the first glimmer of hope as both Republicans and Democrats met to discuss the possibility of a compromise with President Obama. They held a joint press conference which soothed what was starting to look like panic. The DOW responded with a rebound after traders heard polite words from Boehner, Pelosi, Reid and McConnell. Americans can only hope that cooler heads will prevail and that some kind of agreement can be reached that averts going over the financial cliff.
On this point, nearly every business leader and investor who appears on CNBC has been consistent: The status quo leads to economic stagnation or worse; solutions could release powerful forces that propel the nation out of its post-recessionary funk.
On a side note, Rise Above cheerleader and long time CNBC Squawkbox host Joe Kernen was interviewed by his hometown Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper. It’s nice to know that even though our “jovial Joe” has lived a lifetime in NYC, he fondly and regularly references our corner of Ohio … and calls Cincinnati home.
Have you ever seen the polarization in Washington and among the population this bad?
I’m a young man, so I can’t talk about McKinley and what was going on then, but I can go all the way back to Carter, and no, I haven’t seen it at this point in terms of polarization. And I don’t think it’s just the politicians because the politicians are sent to Washington by people that are polarized as well. We’re at a crossroads in this country to decide whether we want to head down the full-on path to an entitlement state like Europe or whether we want to be more focused on the private sector. We need to decide, and we’re right down the middle.
Politics and politicians can solve this crisis but they are now in the way. For a deal to get done, we must rise above partisan bickering. For a deal to get done, they must move the public toward some form of sacrifice. That’s always been the spirit of America.
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