Politics – with a Capital “P” – Comes to the Fore, Again…

The good?  As a result of significant pressure from the United States and United Kingdom, Afghan President Hamid Karzai broke an election impasse by announcing that the country would hold a runoff in their disputed presidential election. Rife with corruption, last summer’s voting was internationally criticized for being unfair as many observers reported cases of ballot stuffing. Though Karzai was announced the winner and initially refused to back down from accepting victory, Senator John Kerry (D-MA), the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was able to break the deadlock by convincing the Afghan leader to hold a second round of voting. Though problems seem increasingly insurmountable in Afghanistan, it is always a good sign when the fundamentals of democracy are protected.

The bad?  With the ongoing healthcare reform efforts taking center stage on just about every discussion in Washington, DC, the one quiet story over the past few months has been the ever-increasing national debt.  Within the next several weeks, the Senate will need to pass a measure allowing the national debt limit to rise above $13 trillion.  In a packaging maneuver, Senate leaders are hoping to attach the bill to another, less controversial bill that all politicians support – the Department of Defense’s spending authorization.  But the voices of opposition are growing louder.  The question remains how far in debt can we go?  While the national debt is something that can be managed – if handled properly – it’s clear to everyone that it needs to be fixed and increasing the debt limit without a plan for solving the long-term issue doesn’t seem to be the right direction.

The ugly?  In an increasingly messy fight, the Administration took on the Fox News Channel this past week by calling the television network “a wing of the Republican Party.”  The comment by White House Communications Director Anita Dunn created yet another round of bickering between Fox and the White House.  Then, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) accused the White House of having “an enemies list.”  And so, the battle of the pundits continues at a time when we need to be solving some problems…

Kevin Fickenscher, MD

The views and opinions expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Dell Services or its affiliates.