Roger Clemens may have dodged a bullet without the help of steroids. Prosecutors pulled a Bill Buckner – which may end the entire affair on whether or not he lied to Congress. Frankly, I don’t care. He’s an idiot whose fastball registers higher than his IQ.

For this, we should waste taxpayer money? The outcome is irrelevant. And if you believe anyone who commits perjury should be punished, then why wasn’t Bill Clinton prosecuted? Better yet, why isn’t Congress hauled into court for perpetually lying to the American people.

This doesn’t have anything to do with business but I came up with the “haul Congress into court” idea while discussing the matter with my better half, and I didn’t want to waste a good line.

So what should we discuss this week? It’s as if the economy is in summer reruns. Can Greece be saved? Is Italy – a much larger problem – the next European domino to fall? Will the Fed attempt to juice the anemic economy again? Will the president and Capitol Hill stop playing a game of “mine is bigger than yours” and put the country’s best interests first?

Let’s see: no, no, maybe and when pigs fly.

Between hitting the send button on last week’s column and the time it was published, the alleged meeting of the minds over the debt ceiling had morphed back into a mindless game of chicken. Perhaps, as House Speaker John Boehner claimed, they were never close to a deal. Or perhaps the dismal jobs report did alter the political landscape.

The latest rumor is that a backup plan presented by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is gaining traction. In exchange for budget cuts to be named later, the McConnell plan would give the president the ability to raise the debt ceiling through 2012 in three installments. That is assuming Congress doesn’t block an increase by mustering a two-thirds majority. It is believed the plan doesn’t include any tax increases.

That’s a relief. It would be awful if America’s job creators were hindered in their relentless quest to use their financial resources to chip away at our unemployment problem. Job creators – that’s what the spin doctors are calling the wealthy these days. Nice touch. Only one problem: they don’t seem to be doing much of a job in creating jobs, despite the historically low tax rates. That is unless you count the increased work force at companies like Tiffany’s.

The Republican-led House remains a potential obstacle as it insists on concrete cuts before agreeing to any increase in the debt ceiling. And that would be square one approaching. Not a good thing with a default inching ever closer.

You know things are getting serious when ratings agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have indicated they are contemplating downgrading America’s credit rating. That’s cinches it for me. I mean this is Moody’s and S&P. These were the guys who thankfully possessed the insight to raise the red flag on that massive housing credit problem and helped the country avert disaster.

Oh, that’s right, they missed that one. But don’t forget all that mortgage junk had A-ratings which proves how serious a downgrade would be. If pennies-on-the dollar mortgage paper garnered A-ratings, a less than Aaa rating for the United States would be a disaster.

If that’s not enough, Jamie Dimon, chief executive of J.P. Morgan Chase warned Thursday that a default would cause an economic “catastrophe.” And if anyone knows how to cause an economic catastrophe, it would be Dimon. He and his colleagues are seasoned pros.

“It’s imperative that the debt ceiling be fixed and it’s imperative the United States shows fiscal discipline,” Mr. Dimon said. “They’re both important not just for the health of the United States, but the financial health of the world.

I can’t say what I’m thinking at this moment. Suffice it to say I would like to give Mr. Dimon a swift kick in a very sensitive area. In fact, I would like to give all of Washington a collective kick.

McConnell’s plan is more political manure. It offloads the responsibility to raise the debt ceiling on Mr. Obama, positioning the president to become a human pinata for the Republicans. It also allows congressional representatives to vote against a debt ceiling increase knowing that their vote will be meaningless. The spineless Republicans can then face the whack jobs in the tea party who are advocating that we default and claim they fought the good fight.

Remember when I said there was a possibility we all could win if the White House and Congress agreed to cut spending, restructure the tax code and deal with entitlements? What was I thinking? A moment of optimism, or should I say insanity. I should know better.

If we want to fix this problem, we must stop accepting political posturing and demand sacrifice. We must stop tolerating the likes of Mr. Dimon and his cronies who feign concern while systematically fleecing America. And we must put an end to the cozy relationship between Wall Street and Washington. Until we decide to make these changes, nothing else will change.

Author, professor, entrepreneur, radio and TV commentator, Tony Paradiso can be reached at tparadiso@tds.net.

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