Football and the Fiscal Cliff

Several weeks ago I watched my favorite NFL team grind out a game that ended in a tie at the end of regulation play.  The tie remained until close to the end of the sudden death overtime period.  This can’t be, I thought, NFL games don’t end in a tie—well hardly ever.  But it did; a tie went down in the record book.

       I then switched to a news channel where a debate on the “fiscal cliff” raged.   GOOD GRIEF, I thought.  Its football all over again—a struggle with all might on both sides for a no-compromise win.  There was the Red Team defending its goal of “no tax increase for the wealthy.”  Quarterback Obama of the Blue Team tries to penetrate that goal line.  The Blue Team defended its goal of “no cuts in government spending.”    Quarterback Boehner tries to lead his team across that goal line.

Here we are in the fourth quarter and there has been no scoring--not even a field goal.   In fact, neither team has made it into the red zone (the area between the 20-yard line and the goal line).  The big play of the Red Team was the Ryan budget plan, but Quarterback Boehner got sacked on that one.  The Blue Team thought they could score on Quarterback Obama’s proposal to preserve the Bush tax cuts for the middle class only.  But the Red Team stopped that play with no yardage gain..

       Will the scoreless tie remain until the end of regulation play on December 31?    We’ll watch and see if the game goes into overtime come next year.  Certainly, the partisan fans will be there, cheering loudly.   Me?  I would rather watch NFL football.