Sabotage

   Data points -- The U.S. unemployment rate in November dropped to 7.7 percent. GDP, which measures the economy, rose in the third quarter. Retail sales are up. Home sales are up.   Interest rates are at historic lows, a sign that cash is available and lenders are confident the loan will be repaid. And in the case of government bonds, an indication that investors are confident that their funds will be safe, regardless of rates that are, in effect, negative, since the rate of return is lower than the rate of inflation.

   Meanwhile, in Washington, the Republican Party is holding the government hostage to their demands for austerity, less spending and more tax breaks for the wealthy.

   Question: Why is the political opposition finding objections to any and all proposals that might help the economy -- even those that they themselves previously offered?
   The answer seems clearly implicit in the question -- political opposition.

   Either that, or a subconscious political death wish.