I try very hard not to delve into the political spectrum with this blog, but there is just so much material out there to use right now. So many things are going on, and it has all happened so quickly; it can leave you gasping for air. Well, maybe not all of us. Let’s be more specific and say that it leaves those of us who follow the news and stay abreast of current events shaking our heads at the very least. One year ago at this time GM was just another car company, Cap and Trade was something we knew very little about, and stimulus packages along with health-care reform were mere talking points from a new President. The only thing consistent from that time until now is the state of fear we exist in: a fear for the economy and for the status of our country in general. I’m no economist, and politics is not in my natural persuasion, but I’ve realized that now is not the time to become lax in paying attention to Things Goin On - to borrow a title from Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Neither do I have answers or solutions to the problems that beset this country of ours, at least not in the earthly realm. That is not an ‘out’ on my part, nor is it an excuse to write a lot of empty rhetoric within this column. But it doesn’t take a political science major to recognize that time and circumstance can’t go on this way forever. Something’s gotta give.
We keep hearing that this accumulated debt is bad for and will be passed on to our grandchildren. I don’t think it will take that long at all. These deficits will come home to roost much sooner than we think, and the pot is apparently simmering on the stove as I write this. Not only is that proverbial pot ready to boil, the government is turning up the heat with each passing day that Congress convenes. And no one seems to care except those who have been denigrated into silence or are being vilified into obscurity.
My take on the situation is this: we have to do something about the debt or the dollar will be worthless and our economy will crumble. No one doubts this and what I’m saying is not some grand epiphany sent down to me from on high. It’s action and reaction/cause and effect, and even our government is not immune to the logic. We can raise taxes. But that is akin to pouring a bucket of water into the ocean by this point. After all, with the current deficit we are talking trillions of dollars here. The interest alone is staggering by comparison. Taxes will be raised, and they will be creative about it, but I do not believe taxes alone will be enough.
We can cut spending in the area of entitlements and welfare. No we can’t. Not at this point. The backlash from the masses would be unbelievable, Armageddon-esque. The roof would come off. Think New Orleans after Katrina with a steroid multiplier. Plus we’ve now added the entitlement of healthcare into the mix and that dog is ready to hunt. To suggest a reduction in entitlements would bring on howls of racism, greed, or branding the one who suggests such with the title of being uncaring for the unfortunate in our society.
No, there is but one sacred cow left where money can be saved in sums large enough to make a difference, if only for a little while. The military plum is ripe for picking and I look for cuts, massive cuts, down the road or possibly sooner. A withdrawal from the world stage followed by a path to Argentinean irrelevance for this country will probably be the payment required by the piper. An end to the era of Pax-Americana that has existed since World War II, and what will happen then? Can the UN or the EU fill the void we leave behind?
“And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” In Revelations 6, John sees a rider (interpreted by most theologians to be the Anti-Christ) with a bow, but he mentions no arrows for that bow. Was it merely an oversight on the writer's part, or something to be assumed? Or was the rider to be understood as conquering in the name of peace? Maybe conquering comes easy for him because the conquered can sense the horrors associated with the horses and riders that are following on his heels? It makes me wonder.
I truly believe the coming year will be interesting. In any case, I can hear the hoof beats drawing ever closer; they may possibly be at our very door by now.
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