By Alan Caruba
I have always been an optimist. And, I hope, a realist. Of late though, I have been entertaining some pessimist thoughts about the future of America. This runs contrary to one of the enduring attributes of Americans because, like me, they too are optimists.
The great value of national elections is that the issues affecting everyone’s future get discussed. The election of 2008 was an alarming indication of the power of the mainstream media to bamboozle voters. Aided by McCain’s near total lack of charisma or even energy, the media’s wholesale devotion to getting a completely unknown and unvetted Barack Obama elected was and is scary.
One reason for optimism is the way the current campaign to reelect Barack Hussein Obama is struggling to distract voters from the worst record of incompetence of any modern president since Jimmy Carter.
As Obama campaigns non-stop around the nation he never mentions Obamacare, the failed “stimulus” of 2009, or the outrage of the Fast and Furious program to run guns to drug cartels in Mexico. I would put money on the Supreme Court declaring Obamacare unconstitutional. And, with that, goodbye Obama. Feeling a bit more optimistic now?
The problems Americans face today have been put in place by successive Congresses over decades and the blame falls equally on both Democrats and Republicans. Too much socialism!
The 2008 crisis of the housing mortgage and the banking meltdown is the result of government sponsored agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that own half of all the mortgage loans made. There is no reason why the government should be in the mortgage business that for most of the nation’s history was the providence of the banking industry. It was the “bundled” mortgage “assets” that seduced many banking institutions to purchase them.
The nation’s tax system is shot through with special breaks to various elements of the nation’s economy and includes the highest corporate tax of any nation on earth. It requires legions of lobbyists to maintain the special favors and it ignores the lower corporate tax rates that have made other nations more competitive than ours in the global marketplace.
The problem with America is not that it has millionaires and billionaires, but that it does not have more of them. They and other wealthy Americans pay the bulk of all income taxes while some forty percent of Americans pay nothing. That level of inequality is criminal. So is the tax system. It must be reformed as it threatens to make criminals of all who must deal with it.
The failure to reform Social Security and Medicare is yet another problem threatening the economy as a smaller workforce is required to pay for a growing aged population. A recent Rasmussen poll found that 64% of voters would prefer a government with fewer services and lower taxes. The findings are consistent with findings since 2006. Just 25% want more services.
The hollowing out of the nation’s military power is a major concern because a strong military is vital for the defense of the nation and, by extension, peace in the world.
Ours has a geriatric fleet of fighter and transport airplanes and a naval fleet that hasn’t been so small since the end of World War II. Our missile system is growing moldy in its silos. Our Army, Marines, National Guard and Reserves are worn out from constant rotations in and out the Middle Eastern conflicts in a world where asymmetrical warfare is the order of the day, not massed armies.
Our society is suffering from the erosion of the most fundamental tradition—marriage. The Obama administration announced it will not enforce the Defense of Marriage Act and the President’s endorsement of same-sex marriage is abhorrent.
Popular culture has degraded to films that are either cartoons or based on characters from comic books. Movies made for adults are becoming a vanishing genre. The nightly fare of situation comedies is filled with characters for whom casual sex is the norm. The nation remains a mecca for drugs at the same time our southern border remains superficially protected while drug cartels fill the streets of Mexico with the beheaded bodies of their rivals.
Our educational system has been so debased by the teacher’s unions since the 1960s that it is commonplace to learn that our children continue to lag behind all other nations in the fundamental knowledge of reading, writing, science, history and all other fields of knowledge on which a successful nation depends.
The nation’s unions are bankrupting states with their excessive demands for salaries, health care options, and pensions. They must be curbed and we are witnessing states like New Jersey and Wisconsin that have begun to reduce this drain on public treasuries.
Lastly, the programs advanced by wealthy environmental organizations such as Friends of the Earth, the Sierra Club, and others have imposed a vast matrix of laws and regulations that are putting at risk our ability to conduct any business enterprise. The Greens are successfully denying Americans access to reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas and have been seeking to erode property rights, the keystone of capitalism.
As the cartoon character, Pogo, once observed, “We have met the enemy and it is us.”
Specifically, it is a Congress and a federal government that spends more than it takes in, borrowing 40 cents of every dollar spent. That is unsustainable.
At this point I have identified a few good reasons for pessimism, but there is cause for optimism. Despite all the slurs hurled at it, the Tea Party movement that emerged to protest and to repeal Obamacare now has the active or tacit support of millions of Americans.
It will take decades to undo the damage that has been done, but it can be done and there are clear indications that most Americans have had enough of big government, big spending, and big borrowing.
We have just five months and a few weeks until November 6, Election Day. Turn out the usurper. Turn out the cowards in Congress who do not support Paul Ryan’s reforms. Be optimistic!
© Alan Caruba, 2012
Comment
Comment by Paul Artz on May 24, 2012 at 9:31am Larry W. Emory
Your best two words “historic change” America is going to have to reinvent itself and it not going to be easy. Obama had the opportunity and blow it. He blamed Bush! Does Romney have what it takes, I don’t know. Do the American people have what it takes? That is the big question!!
Comment by Larry W. Emory on May 24, 2012 at 9:15am Yes both parties are at fault, but in my opinion the Dems have done much more damage. It will do no good to replace the prez and congress unless we replace them with people of vision; someone who is ready and able to make historic changes. I am very concerened that Romney is not that person. I suspect he will manage the mess rather than clean it up. I pray for our country. I pray I'm wrong.
Comment by John Wiant on May 22, 2012 at 8:33pm You're right Alan, there are many things to get excited about. The economy has not crashed. We are not in any "front lines" war such as an all out invasion of Iran (yet). We DO have a RINO House of Representatives which beats the wrong name all together. We still have AM Radio and the Internet. We still have not had anything like, another 911. Newt, Herman, Rick, Michele, and others are still going strong..... and of course, we still have this web site, Fox news, etc. Europe's economy still has not crashed. The Catholic church DID sue the Obama administration for sticking its nose into their Religious business (which might even indicate they think God will help them with the average Liberal judge). But the most important reminder of all, which you so vividly pointed out: November is coming faster and faster now....and it won't be long until we know: We are either in for some fantastic days ahead, or we're uhhhh...ahem..........not. :)
Comment by Debrajoe Smith-Beatty on May 22, 2012 at 5:04pm Thanks.
Comment by Robert Burton on May 22, 2012 at 2:42pm Until and unless the majority of concerned, conservative oriented American Citizenry steps up to analyze the background of candidates, vote in primaries and then vote again in general elections; we will continue to countenance a flagrant disregard for the prudent exercise of Congressional as well as Presidential fiduciary responsibility.
Too often, local, state and national politicians are given a pass based upon well intentioned citizens either not voting in primaries or simply not analyzing the background and performance of the candidates. We therefore have poor choices in the general election. Folks then do not go to the polls based upon their disappointment of the choices.
I am appalled that many elections are won or lost with half the registered population not voting. This is inexcusable. Citizens are becoming consciously ignorant. In my city, only seven to ten percent of registered voters actually vote in primary elections. It is no surprise that the results are predetermined by government employees, environmentalists, non profits and other union workers. They vote.
In addition, we have a Republican party that somehow believes they are required to educate the populace only when in an election year. There is a need to educate the citizenry every day of every year with a message that is honed to address how best to approach the broad issues that will determine the future of the country. Talk radio and the Tea party nation do a great job, but it is not enough. We need to identify a way to counter the message that is promulgated day in and day out by the main stream media, hollywood movies, television sitcoms/dramas, and liberal cable networks.
I spend time with neighbors and friends discussing political issues and various approaches to resolve them. Also, we discuss the candidates, their backgrounds and likely future voting. For this, many friends will no longer speak with me. So be it.
We all need to make an effort to educate whomever is willing to listen and to financially support the candidates we believe in. I agree that we are the enemy.
Comment by Ronald Sorrells on May 22, 2012 at 2:10pm Washington cares "Nothing about what we think" ! They do not want to "fix Washington" because they are all "lining their pockets withy this dysfunctional system.
Ron
Comment by JOHN DELASAUX on May 22, 2012 at 1:57pm Wayne wrote: "I have plotted consumer spending vs crude price since 2004 and the the relationship tracks."
Since heating oil and gasoline prices are part of the Consumer Price Index, we would certainly be surprised if they didn't "track".
But, how does that prove that the Democrats' Depression of 2008 was caused by oil prices?
If you had been a real estate agent in the 1990's and beyond, like I was, you would clearly understand how Fannie Mae controlled (and still controls) the qualifying of people to get a loan. In 1990, a person would have to have a certain income, a certain percentage of payments, and a certain amount of cash down payment in order to qualify for a loan. Under the Affordable Housing rules, as pushed by Democrats Carter, Clinton, Franks and Dodd, you could get a No-Doc Loan or a Liar Loan. Fannie Mae was forced to relax the qualifying requirements and accept these Sub-Prime Mortgages.
The rest is history.
And, some people believe the revisionist history put out by Obama, that the Democrat Depression was caused by Bush's war spending or the lack of controls by the Bush administration.
Sorry, not true.
McCain was the one who tried, without success, to get Franks and Dodd (key people on the Finance Committee) to tighten the qualifying requirements, and they refused on the basis that it would keep some Americans from getting Affordable Housing.
Comment by Ginny Marriott on May 22, 2012 at 12:48pm Thank you for a well thought out and eloquently written article. My pessimism is that it seems the younger generation (excluding our brave young military personnel) think they WANT Socialism. Oh, they wouldn't call it that because they have no idea that Communism is the end goal of Socialism. They've been taught by Leftist professors that it just means "free" healthcare, education, entitlements, entitlements, entitlements. It is thanks to them that Obama was elected and I'm not sure they have the sense to know that Obama is the problem. They don't have the work ethic that a now older generation grew up learning from their grandparents and parents (few even grow up with the same two parents). They come out of college thinking the world owes them a living. There is not the rugged individualism of those who came to this country from Europe and started businesses (but then, with the way businesses are regulated and taxed, there's not much reason for someone to try to start a business even if they DO have an entrepreneurial spirit). Maybe mandatory military service would be a good idea to build character, but I'm getting pretty sick of seeing our military being told they have to participate in decade-long wars rather than going in, kicking butt, and declaring victory. So now, it is the Tea Party movement which must try to restore what was once a great nation and super power. We have had to become activists rather than just active in our "golden" years. We won't do it without God's blessing. But is asking for His help a bit like asking for help for Sodom and Gomorrah?
Comment by Ronald Sorrells on May 22, 2012 at 11:42am If "We The People's" property is covering so muchy oil...pump the shiite up and szello it and pay off our debt.
Who in the hell does that bunch in Washington think Owns "Public Lands" ??????
US !!
Ron
Comment by Wayne McLaughlin on May 22, 2012 at 11:36am To John Delasaux - Thank you for your comment. I have plotted consumer spending vs crude price since 2004 and the the relationship tracks. As to the effect of the recent resurgence of gasoline to $4, most who survived the previous $4 gasoline are still surviving.
It is important that we recognize true cause and effect if we are to arrive at solutions. It was not "greedy lenders" or stupid homeowners justifying all sorts of regulation. Their economic foundation included the assumption of affordable energy which has a long history in the U.S. People used credit resources to get through energy price spikes of the late 20th century. When prices rose beginning in 2005, it was a sea change not a spike that consumed the last bit of credit resources and left them with no recourse.
The housing foreclosures resulted in a cascading effect through the whole economy as disposable income dwindled reducing purchases of goods and services and the need for employees to furnish those goods and services.
Until that time, we collectively were able to absorb the cost of the stupidity and cupidity of government which will never change.
Think of the benefit of getting rid of all cabinet level departments except the four major functions outlined in the constitution: State, Justice, Interior and Commerce. Any necessary functions of eliminated departments would be folded into one of the four as they were at one time. That would be truly reducing the size and cost of government.
© 2013 Created by Judson Phillips.
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