In the Age of Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, The Center Cannot Hold

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold ...

The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

William Butler Yeats (1919)

"The Second Coming," Yeats's famous apocalyptic poem, has been cited in every era since he wrote it more than a hundred years ago. Now, however, things are really falling apart.

As reported in Barron's, our federal government's budget deficit is $1.3 trillion, driven higher by rising interest costs on our national debt--now more than $36 trillion. Interest rates on U.S. bonds are creeping higher, as foreign investors grow wary about financing America's spending spree.

Politically, the center cannot hold, or as Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett might phrase Yeats's observation, "The fuckin' center cannot fuckin' hold."

Progressive Democrats, full of "passionate intensity," are behaving like lunatics. Senator Cory Booker, the Sparticus of the U.S. Senate, has accomplished very little over his political career. Earlier this month, however, he broke the record for the longest Senate filibuster speech, achieving absolutely nothing other than demonstrating the strength of his bladder.

Democrats displayed more "passionate intensity" at a rally in Washington last February, organized to protest Elon Musk's cost-cutting activities. Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley called Musk a "Nazi nepo baby," and Congresswoman LaMonica McIver of New Jersey called for shutting down the U.S. Senate. "We are at war," McIver cried out. Congresswomen Maxine Waters and Jasmine Crockett were present as well, spewing profanity.

Our nation has lost all semblance of an orderly two-party political system. Progressive Democrats see themselves as guerrilla fighters, indulging in violent rhetoric and launching a blizzard of lawsuits in friendly federal courts. Critics view this malicious litigation as lawfare; indeed, it is a quasi-military form of sabotage against the nation's justice system. And many federal judges are complicit.

Will things calm down? Will our political process revert to a culture of civility and decorum? Will the nation get its fiscal house in order?

I don't think so. Unless our government addresses its fiscal crisis very soon, interest rates will rise precipitously, the housing market will collapse, and inflation will accelerate the destruction of the middle class. All that will happen shortly.

Is America slouching toward Bethlehem as Yeats envisioned? No, but we're definitely slouching somewhere, and the place we are slouching toward is dark and scary.

The center cannot hold.

First, it was Russia! Russia! Russia! Now, it's Social Security! Social Security! Social Security!

 Democrats have morphed from being the Party of Chaos to the Party of Chicken Little. For years, the Dems accused Donald Trump of colluding with Russia, in a desperate attempt to kill him politically.

That didn't work because Trump, rising like a phoenix, was elected President for a second term. So, Trump haters switched tactics. Like Chicken Little warning the barnyard that the sky is falling, they're hysterically accusing Trump of destroying Social Security.

This gambit may be working. Last week's anti-Trump rallies featured thousands of oldsters holding signs proclaiming "Hands Off Our Social Security."

It would indeed be a calamity if Social Security collapses. Four out of ten retirement-age Americans rely on Social Security as their sole source of income. If their monthly benefit checks stopped coming,  they'd be in the soup lines within a week. That's a scary thought.

Moreover, it is theoretically possible that Social Security will go belly up in 1935, when SS trust funds are depleted. That's another scary thought.

Why is Social Security on shaky ground financially? First, Americans live longer than they did when the program was introduced, so they're drawing benefits for longer periods. In 1940, the life expectancy of a 65-year-old was 14 years. Today, a 65-year-old can expect to live 20 more years.

 Secondly, the ratio of workers making Social Security contributions to the people receiving benefits has decreased dramatically from 16 to 1 in 1940 to 2.7 to 1 today.

According to the legacy media and leftist think-tank wonks, Trump's policies are further threatening Social Security benefits for millions of Americans. But that's not true.

On the contrary, Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is working hard to reduce the national budget deficit, which is expected to be $2 trillion this year. That's on top of the cumulative national debt, now topping $36 trillion. 

If the U.S. doesn't get government spending under control, myriad government services will be reduced or eliminated--not just Social Security.

It seems evident that eliminating waste, mismanagement, and fraud in the federal government is essential to balancing the nation's budget. Part of that effort must include trimming the number of federal employees, including nonessential Social Security Administration workers.

Sadly, that means the federal government will have less money for housing illegal aliens in 5-star hotels and less cash for promoting transgender sports.

Image credit: Portsmouth Herald