I actually thought from the day one of this recently completed budget debacle that there would be no resolution until the fiscal cliff situation had come and gone. I really believed that Congress would force the United States into default and that we would really be in a sad state today. I am thankful today that this did not happen and that things are back to some sort of normalcy at least for the next couple of months.

I think that if I were the Speaker of the House of Representatives I would just kill myself. The Republican Party is in more disarray today than at any time in the past forty years and when you really examine the state of their politics there is little, if any, reason to believe that things will improve any time soon. On the other hand, if they have learned anything from the debacle of the past two weeks they will get their collective acts together and begin to do what the people sent them to Washington to do, which is to legislate, and solve the problems and issues facing American today.

I caught myself listening to a couple of the Republican talking heads last night and some of them are still in an unbelievable state of denial with respect to the poll numbers that the Republicans in Congress currently have. Not surprising, they just blame them on skewed data, the liberal press, and pollsters who are out to get the Republicans at any cost. If it doesn't come from FOX News then it is not valid. As long as they continue to rationalize this mess in this manner those in the party who have their heads planted firmly in their hind quarters will continue to be destructive, counter-productive, and some of the best allies that their political opposition has enjoyed in nearly a half century.

In politics you always try to pick your battles wisely. You also always give yourself a way out of an issue and most importantly you don't go into any kind of political negotiations or battle of any kind with an unrealistic or unattainable goal. The Republicans violated all of these basic principles of negotiations and found themselves backed into a corner with nowhere to go. This all inured to the benefit of their opposition, the Democrats and of course President Obama, the person with whom they blame everything that they perceive to be bad.

What we are seeing today is a political system that is dysfunctional because one of the two major political parties in this country is in a state of total chaos. The Republican Party has three factions. One of these factions is totally out of touch with reality, one is and always will be very narrow minded in their views, and the other is the mainstream conservatives who have some very valid and important views on today's world and on how this country should be governed. Make no mistake about the fact that I believe that democracy works best when there are different points of view to be considered. Having said this, anyone who believes that politicians of differing viewpoints can do their jobs without compromise is simply not dealing in reality.

I learned a long time ago that dealing with true believers and ideologues is impossible. They do not believe in compromise and are completely caught up in their beliefs and positions. Right now, the Republican Party, and Speaker Boehner are being held captive by that faction in their party who believes in the old adage 'my way or the highway.' When all of the dust settled last night, they accomplished nothing for this country or the Republican Party. Furthermore they strengthened the political opposition and actually hurt middle class and working people in this country.

For over two weeks they put a million people out of work. For over two weeks they demonstrated their intransigence and sent a message to the rest of the world that there are serious issues within the political system in this country. There is absolutely no positive way to look at this unless of course you are counting votes and looking at how much money you think that you can raise within your own little political world.

There is another old saying in politics about all politics being local. What we have witnessed these past couple of weeks is that adage at its worst. While all elected officials have to be concerned with their own individual constituents, when you put them above the well-being of an entire nation then you have, in my opinion, not lived up to your constitutional responsibilities when you took your oath of office. If you are an elected official who makes all of your political decision-making based on what your next door neighbor(s) tell you, then perhaps you should just go no further in politics than your borough or local City Council district.

While we are over the hump for now, what really bothers me about what just happened is that the stage is set for a replay of this whole mess in less than three months. What is it about doing your job does this Congress not understand? I am hoping that those in the Republican Party learned a valuable lesson from this debacle. I am also hopeful that the next time that the tail tries to wag the dog that the Speaker of the House of Representatives will cut it off!

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