By Chad Arias / Staff Writer

The elective approach (Dylan Slusser / Editor’s assistant)

By Chad Arias / Staff Writer

Don’t we all miss the days when America’s biggest issue was whether or not President Clinton had sexual relations with another woman while in office?

The economy was booming, America was at relative peace and the divide between Republicans and Democrats was not as noticeable as it is now.

Those were the last golden years before America plummeted into this recession that has both political parties pointing fingers at each other instead of taking actions.

In the last four years, the economy has continued to decline with no sign of letting up.

Americans have looked to our elected officials for an escape route, but instead, they found a yard of school boys bickering over who gets to be the team captain.

It’s time like these that the American people expect  Republican and Democratic leaders to set aside their own ideals and agendas in order to move forward and get this country out of this recession.

This process, however, can only start when each elected officials takes responsibility for his actions.

No such man or party is entirely guilty for the way things turned out, but that’s no reason to remain stationary and point the finger of blame at someone else.

During the 1990’s and the early 2000’s, American citizens forgot how to live within their means by taking out huge loans to buy houses they couldn’t afford.

Banks, fueled by the continual hunger for more and more money, were there to give ill-advised loans to customers they knew couldn’t, and wouldn’t, pay up.

Eventually, the housing market crashed, which then left many people upside down on their mortgages with no money to pay back their loans.

The banks are then out billions of dollars and in turn, they file for bankruptcy. This, to be honest, is irony at its finest.

Anyway, President Barack Obama immediately bails out the financial industry to the tune of $700 billion in tax payer money at the start of his presidency.

The circle of guilt continues to roll.

Now that the blame game is over, let’s get down to business and find a common solution that both Republicans and Democrats can agree upon.

Nov. 23 was the deadline for the twelve member bipartisan committee to come to an agreement about cutting at least $1.5 trillion over the next ten years from the federal budget.

The committee featured six Republicans and six Democrats hoping a compromise could be made. The deadline passed without an agreement being reached, thus making it a failure.

Once again, our  elected congressmen let down the very citizens who voted them into office.

This immature behavior is to be expected from children, but to have this behavior coming from our own congressmen is simply outrageous.

Politicians are from the upper class and have no real motivation to move out of the stalemate this country finds itself in.

Despite however much they may address the media and claim to be working on the situation at hand, these men seem to be more content to lounge around in their million dollar homes with their luxury cars and accessories instead of putting forth any real effort to fix this country’s condition.

The American people, on the other hand, are not so fortunate to be blessed with these commodities.

While the two parties argue in Washington, the unemployment rate in California is still at 12 percent.

The poverty level is approximately at 16.3 percent while our state debt has increased  to about $50 trillion, according to the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission. How is that possible?

The Occupy Wall Street movement has sprung up in hope of acquiring change through peaceful demonstrations.

The movement is by the people for the people and in short, their motive is simple.

Occupiers are individuals who, for the last four years, have watched the government bicker over who caused the recession rather than work together to find a solution.

Action needs to be taken in order for America to revive itself.

When elected officials fail to appease the people, wrath, rage and public outcry will flood the streets.

Overall, the continually increasing drift between Republicans and Democrats is ripping this nation apart.

 Compromises must be made in order to ensure that every citizen is initialed to a “fair deal.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was able to save the United States back in the late 1930’s.

There is still hope twinkling in our eyes for the Obama administration to do just the same and help turn this country around from the abyss it seems to be traveling toward.

The rifts between the two parties have left the people in the middle with unanswered prayers.

The way out of this abyss starts with the first step towards the light.

Whether by a glimmering candidate or the torch of a protestor, America will prevail.