Indebted

The economy, or rather debt for most of the western world, is an essential feature of political life. Deciding both how a government accumulates money and then spends it often defines the term of a government more than foreign and domestic policy put together. Couple these decisions with an economic incident, such as the credit slump of 2008/9, and the scrutiny put on a government's fiscal decisions intensifies even further.

Obama, as the President elected immediately following the slump, has seen his economic policy come under intense scrutiny. Early on the democratic congress passed multiple emergency budget bills and new landmark healthcare legislation was passed that should cut the government's expenditure dramatically. However, as the story slipped from the headlines, the short-term nature of these strategies has become increasingly apparent. As such the necessity for a longer term political strategy is now urgent.

Cut to May 2011. The government of the United States was on the brink of coming to a complete halt. True, it is unlikely this would have ever actually happened. However, although deals were brokered that prevented the government's collapsed a truly workable strategy has yet to be found.

With politics becoming increasingly partisan it is becoming harder for the democratically split US government to effectively govern, especially in rapid response to world events. The economic crisis has increasingly revealed the lack of workability within US politics today. With elections coming up in only 14 months the hope is that with a refreshed congress and presidency so will come refreshed governing. However, as the tea party becomes only more prolific the hopes of this seem dim.