There is a little known people called the Druze, their religion an offshoot of Islam, residing in parts of Lebanon, Syria and Israel. What makes them unique is that they adapt to the country in which they live; in Israel, they support the Jewish state, in Syria, the Arab country. No doubt, that is the secret of their survival. This is similar to the Jewish concept of "Dina d'malchuta dina" "The law of the land is your law."
For the Jews and the Druze, both the Koran and the Talmud appear to be much more reasonable than the intractable members of the "super committee" who refused to budge from their position. The Republicans insisted that they would not raise taxes on the rich; (they had signed the Grover Norquist pledge) the Democrats would not cut entitlement programs. I would recommend that all of these six Senators and six Congressmen hand in their resignations immediately. They had one commitment; their oath to the Constitution and to all the citizens of the United States. To allow our deficit to reach over 15 trillion dollars without action to reduce the debt by a paltry sum is inexcusable and unforgivable. To place party over the good of the country serves no one. If they knew beforehand that they could not come to an agreement with the other party, they should have been recused, forcibly, if necessary.
If this sounds harsh, look at the stock market results as a consequence of their inaction. What about the effects, short and long term on all Americans? Did they duly consider their responsibility and duty?
Now, let us consider the actions and reactions of the President. All Mr. Obama would say is 'Blame the Republicans, it's entirely their fault.' Many political observers opined that this was his strategy all along. He wanted the committee to fail! This was the only way he could make sure that the George W. Bush tax cuts for the rich would expire at the end of next year. Now, the automatic cuts go into effect across the board: he cannot be "blamed" for the entitlement cuts involved and the Republicans cannot be held culpable for all the defense budget slashing. Every president says he has come to unite, not divide. Can anyone dispute the fact that this is the most bitterly divided congress ever?
Before we become like Greece, soon Italy, Spain and Portugal to follow and then the problematic break-up of the Eurozone common currency, we should do everything possible to ensure that our precarious non-balancing budget presently does not resemble their even more dire future prognostication. We voted for HOPE! What happened to that dream? We voted for CHANGE! Can we not learn to add a little wisdom and common sense from the Druze and the Jews?