I didn't write anything about the news shows last week, but I did watch them. They just aren't really providing that much new information. Everyone is basically waiting to see what transpires when the new congress goes into session. In the meantime they are wasting time talking about the 2012 presidential race.

Probably the most startling statements this weekend were a combined opinion of Pat Buchanan and Mort Zuckermann on McLaughlin Group. They said that they expected either a U.S. state or some European Union country to go bankrupt in the next year. Buchanan even went so far as to say that the Euro would cease to exist before the end of the year. That seems hard to believe to me. If that happens, we're going to see a global economic crisis. And it isn't that it couldn't happen, but the powers that be will do everything possible, use every gimmick out there, every bailout, simply everything they can think of to keep that from happening.

But, if California or Illinois, for example, decides that they simply will never be able to pay all of their debts and cannot meet their immediate obligations, I suppose it is possible that they could be forced into some kind of bankruptcy proceeding. That would be disastrous beyond imagination, and could be enough of a trigger to pull down the world economy. If Spain, Greece, Ireland, Portugal or any of the other EU countries have to do a similar thing, the outcome would be pretty much the same.

So that brings us to the first vote on raising the debt ceiling, which the new congress, flush with their tea partiers, will take place not too far in the future. Some of these folks have said they will oppose raising the debt ceiling when it comes up, and if that point of view prevails, it will shut down the government.

The republicans tried that during Clinton's term, and it backfired. I personally think it will more than likely backfire this year too, although who knows. We do need to balance our budget, but I don't think that a partisan, confrontational attempt to politicize the issue of the national debt is going to resonate across the nation.

The republicans should realize that their grip on power is very tenuous. But I think they think that they are on some kind of mission from God or something. That is going to be their downfall, at least that is my prediction. Hopefully during the next two years they can reduce the deficit. They should look toward land management agencies for one thing. They are wasting tons of money managing land that nature could manage better for free.