Can Congress act?

Of course, will Congress act, is another question. That implies that they can, that they are capable of acting, that it is possible with the make-up of this Congress for this collection of disparate members to actually organize themselves to be able to act.

I am referring, of course, to actually doing something about the economy, jobs and the overall budget problem that is sucking all the confidence out of the room. As I write this, the Dow is down close to 400 points, after dropping nearly 300 on Wednesday.

Sorry, but sitting by, doing nothing, as we face a looming government shutdown (again!) is not acceptable. But is it inevitable?

Can Congress act in the coming months to stop the bleeding? The optimist in me would love to say yes; the realist in me says not quite so fast.

There is no question that there is so much to do: a jobs bill, tax breaks for those who are hurting, incentives for small businesses, extension of unemployment benefits, attacking the deficit in a serious and sustained way. All involve tough choices on the spending and revenue side, all involve both parties giving up some sacred cows, all involve a willingness to take political risks for the nation’s benefit.

I am not entirely sure that Congress can act, namely because the Tea Party Republicans have refused to even consider a balanced approach. The 48 members of the Republican Conference who defied their Speaker this week and who pushed so hard for the insanity of the debt-ceiling disaster for months have sent markets spiraling and gutted confidence in Washington.

If your IRAs are tanking, if your retirement is dropping like a rock, if your savings are evaporating, if your home prices are reeling still, you can thank the Tea Party Republicans. 

When a grand bargain was in the works to truly tackle the deficit problem, they refused to go along and forced Speaker Boehner to kill it. When Boehner warned them this week of the effects of a government shutdown, and mentioned stripping them of committee assignments, they rebuked him.

Their intransigence and refusal to do anything to solve the problems have been tolerated by fellow Republicans, who should know better. Unfortunately, they have been more than tolerated by the Eric Cantors and Jim DeMints of the world — these guys egg them on.

That is why I think it may just be that this Congress cannot muster the smarts or the will to act. 

The Republicans, led by the Tea Party malcontents, are fiddling while Rome burns. Democrats may bail them out now and then, but it is time to realize that unless Speaker Boehner can get his troops in line, the markets, the Federal Reserve, the international economic community and the business community are going to react negatively to their paralysis. Their only approach is to bash President Obama and spout silly, simple shibboleths that make no sense: The evil government, the useless bureaucrats, the socialists are coming!

Any attempt at a pragmatic, balanced approach to helping control the deficit and give a boost to those hurting the most is summarily rejected by the Tea Party. As long as they are calling the shots this will be more than a do-nothing Congress, it will be a Congress that is destroying the confidence in our whole economy.