This is an opinion piece that I wrote prior to President Obama’s reelection. Certainly no one can see into the future, but I think you’ll agree that much of what I wrote has, come true.
Why the Reelection of President Obama will Lead to a World-wide Depression
I invite you to visit www.usdebtclock.org and survey our government’s current liabilities. The figures tell a shocking story. I implore you to return to that web site from time to time as we proceed to the presidential election in November, perhaps the most important since 1860.
According to James Baker (whom I saw on Charlie Rose), we’re “broke.” In The Debt Bomb, Senator Tom A. Coburn, M.D. writes that “America is already bankrupt.” Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (our top military position) under President Obama, on June 24, 2010, said,
“Our national debt is our biggest national security threat.”
That statement didn’t stop President Obama from continuing to run a $1.3 trillion budget deficit and increasing our national debt accordingly, as of August 4, 2012 more than $15.890 trillion.
There are different scenarios that may result when a nation’s debt gets out of control. In Germany following World War I the government tried to print currency to relieve its obligations. Hyperinflation resulted, and paper money became so worthless that some even used it to ignite fires. The economic calamity helped pave the road for Hitler’s rise to power. Another possibility is what has happened in Japan, where a 20-year period of low or no growth, with periods of deflation, has taken place, and the government presently has a huge debt.
Why do I believe that our economy will be part of a world-wide depression if President Obama is reelected?
First, let’s address the economics. The United States’ economy represents about 22 percent of the world’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product, a measure of the size of an economy). The European Union represents about 25 percent and Japan makes up about 8 percent. Now I realize that not all the European Union countries have debt problems, but many do and there are countries outside those three mentioned that have debt problems. So I’m saying about half of the world’s countries have severe debt problems.
The world is very interconnected now by trade, travel, transportation and communications including the internet. If such a large part of the world can’t carry its debt and other obligations, the ripple effect will be severe. Look at the disastrous after-shocks of the Lehman Brothers’ failure and Greece’s troubles.
About half the world, in my opinion, is very much at risk. According to Senator Coburn in The Debt Bomb, some time in 2013 there will be about $13 trillion in sovereign debt requirements and only $9 trillion in world liquid assets to fund it. That’s when interest rates will rise, playing havoc with debtor nations’ deficits.
The people who will be hurt the most will be the poor and middle class.
In the 2012 election President Obama represents one who increased by $5 trillion our national debt to about $16 trillion by election time. He has had opportunity after opportunity to address the unsustainable spending and entitlement problems that are well known, yet not necessarily admitted, by almost all officials in Washington.
In 2008 Senator Obama campaigned successfully, and has been campaigning ever since, not enjoying or excelling at governing. His personality, one of extreme egotism, conceit and narcissism, robs him of a vital necessity in a presidency—top-notch people such as President Reagan and Governor Romney always utilized. This lack of an adequate staff and Cabinet as well as President Obama’s one-man conceited style has meant that he hasn’t grown in the office. He repeats the same mistakes, such as his latest stimulus bill, a “jobs” bill.
His reckless spending and failure to address deficits, debt, taxes and entitlements mean his reelection would be a catastrophe for our country and the world, and a missed opportunity for a solution with Governor Romney.
Let’s hope and pray that Governor Romney prevails in November, along with a host of Republicans to assist him in a challenge that he will accept rather than dodge.
- John E. Wade II
Fiscal Conservatism vs. Taxation
Government spending comprises 28% of the GDP. Conservatives believe that is too much. Their central ideological belief is fiscal conservatism, which means smaller, more efficient, less costly government. Fiscal conservatives want government to be run more like a business. They believe government spending levels should be capped, so government cannot overspend and run a deficit, but would be required to reallocate money from existing programs or services.
What is really scaring conservatives is not the present obligations of the government but the coming costs of Social Security and Medicare, which make up two-thirds of the present government expenditures. The implosion of our auto industry is an accurate precursor of the coming financial crisis in the US. The healthcare and pension costs of GM, Ford, and the former Chrysler Corporation, are so costly that they have rendered those companies incapable of competing in the world market. The pensions and healthcare benefits costs will eventually bankrupt these companies, if another solution is not found. That is exactly what will happen to the US if we do not curtail the size of government and its spending.
Let’s focus the debate not on increasing taxes, but greater accountability of government for allocating and utilizing the tax dollars it receives more efficiently. These programs must be reformed before they cripple our economy and our government. The US government and its citizens have been spendthrifts for too long; it is time for a bit of belt-tightening. When it comes to belt-tightening and fiscal conservativeness, one ticket has proven results. Mitt Romney has a record of fiscal conservativeness and reduced government spending; Obama and Biden do not. Respectively, Romney cut Massachusetts government spending, and championed cuts in wasteful spending. Obama and Biden haven’t championed government spending cuts; rather they propose new taxes and raising existing taxes. Their answer is more spending, not less government. The American people have had enough. Used wisely, there are adequate funds for needed projects and a responsible, accountable government.
- Nall Gearheard
What is a Community Organizer?
Community Organizer – a person who unites disempowered people of low to moderate income so they act in their common self-interest, much as a union organizer.
Saul Alinsky, the legendary Chicago Marxist radical, created the term “community organizer”. Alinsky was a critic of passive, mainstream liberalism, arguing that the most effective means were whatever would achieve the ends. Community organizers use all methods at their disposal to achieve their ends, including picketing, boycotting, sit-ins, petitioning and electoral politics. If non-violent methods fail, more aggressive, violent methods may be used to influence decision makers.
Notable community organizers include: Barack Obama, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Ralph Nader, Marin Luther King, Jr., Josef Stalin, Cesar Chavez, Saul Alinsky, and Mother Jones.
Marxism, Josef Stalin, Mother Jones, Saul Alinsky?
- Nall Gearheard