It is a crisis of confidence that is approaching epidemic proportions that threatens to undermine the very foundations of our Republic. It is a crisis that affects every man, woman and child in America in their most basic of cherished principles of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”.
Following is a summary of the symptoms of this crisis, but first, let us ask ourselves this: Is there a cure?
The answer to that question is: YES
To fully grasp the answer, let us examine the symptoms.
- Across the land, millions of Americans have lost their employment and the associated financial and health-care benefits.
- Millions more are worried that their employment is in jeopardy and that they too, could join the unemployment line.
- Millions of employers are worried that they might have to shut the doors, due to plunging sales, and they might have to contribute to the number of unemployed workers.
- Millions of homeowners have been foreclosed on and millions more are worried that they too are next to be evicted from their homes.
- Vast tent cities are springing up across the land in which those people who have lost their homes are now moving to.
- Millions are in fear of a total banking collapse that would take their nest eggs they have worked so hard to accumulate and that could plunge the USA, and the rest of the world, into another Great Depression.
- Millions are worried about the safety, nutrition and reliability of the foods they purchase at their local grocery stores.
- Millions are worried about their ability to continue to pay escalating transportation and utility bills, and the effect that their ‘carbon footprint’ is having on the future of their children on Planet Earth.
- Millions are worried that the Federal and State governments have abandoned them to their desperate fates; and that the politicians, like quack doctors, are merely ‘practicing’ when they poke here, prod there, throw money at this and throw money at that and attempt other clueless cures.
- Millions are worried that the Federal government, assisted by the State governments, are setting in place the means by which to “suppress public disorder” according to the Defense Authorization Act of 2006, signed into effect by a Presidential Order of George W. Bush, and still in place as of this writing. This un-Constitutional Act would allow the government to “apprehend and detain” American Citizens without due process of law and intern them in massive FEMA camps constructed for specifically this purpose.
- Millions of Americans are worried that … etcetera … etcetera … and on the list goes.
It’s no great wonder that there is a Crisis of Confidence in America today from Sea to Shining Sea.
All these worries that Americans are suffering from has been caused by a combination of factors, among them; the arrogance and ineptitude of our elected and appointed government officials, the “Greed is Good” mentality of the corporate world; and last but not least, the disregard of their own destinies of the American People themselves.
That’s right – By relying upon the good intentions and well-informed, well thought-out decisions of the politicians, and the honesty of the corporate world to only desire a fair profit, the Citizens of America have unwittingly allowed this crisis to reach epidemic proportions.
Okay, that’s a synopsis of the symptoms and the causes of the crisis, now let’s discuss the Cure.
Cure Number One:
Did you know that when a bank can show foreclosures on their balance sheet that it entitles them to government bailout funds? Yes, the loss of revenues, mortgage payments, that causes a financial institutions accounting statement to be skewed negatively is a measure in the newly formatted “Stress Test” the government is applying to determine a banks need for further tax-payer dollar bailout funds. Meanwhile, that homeowner and their family are joining the swelling ranks of the homeless.
So, instead of that family being homeless, the city or town losing property taxes and the house setting empty, a prime target for vandals, this Cure is that that homeowner be allowed to stay in the home and work with the bank to pay as much per month as their personal financial situation would allow. Why not? The only entity that would be adversely affected by this arrangement would be the bank, which would not then be standing with open arms waiting for more tax-payer bailout funds to fall from the skies. To make this fair, to the banks, the home would have to a primary residence – not a vacation home or investment property.
Cure Number Two:
Across the Land, certain properties are being foreclosed on that are investment properties, and the current residents are, Renters. Those unfortunate persons are also being evicted – who are joining the swelling ranks of the homeless, which tightens the supply of apartments for others who have been evicted – and that eviction process is not the fault of the Renter, but is the fault of the Owner who defaulted on the loan.
So, instead of evicting the Renter, they work a deal with the holder of the foreclosed note, i.e. the banker, and pay their rent directly to the bank. Again, who would be hurt by this arrangement?
Cure Number Three:
The government of the United States of America, more specifically, the politicians, are hoping and praying that the American consumer will jump in their cars and speed across town to the local shopping mall and SPEND SPEND SPEND. Over three-fourths of the Gross Domestic Product of the USA is contributed by consumer spending ($11 TRILLION of $14.8 TRILLION). The Great Middle-Class Citizens of the USA accounts for 80% of the entire population and that is who our elected officials are counting on to bail out the sinking boat, or in other words to hurry up and spend $11 TRILLION DOLLARS.
What on Earth do they think all those un-employed people living in the tent cities are going to be able to buy? Tent pegs? Mosquito repellant? Duct tape to patch the holes to keep rain out of their tents?
Get real, Mr. President – Mr. Vice President – Mr. Congressman – Mr. Senator. If you want the Middle-Class to SPEND SPEND SPEND then allow them to put themselves into the position to do so!
So, immediately abolish the Federal and State Income Tax and instead, replace it with a National Sales Tax. That would put more money in everyone’s pockets on payday to use for the politicians desired spending spree, plus it would continue to supply the tax money you politicians claim is necessary to fund the governments operations.
Cure Number Four:
Speaking of money in pocket – just a couple days ago it was reported that ExxonMobil had record setting revenues last year of over $443 BILLION DOLLARS. Let’s do some simple math: There are 31,536,000 seconds in a 365 day year (365 x 24 x 60 x 60). Therefore, ExxonMobil earned $14,047 per second. Put that in English and it comes to: Every second of every minute of every hour of every day for a year this multi-national, mega-company raked in over fourteen thousand dollars – per second – night and day, all day long with a bottom line of over $45 BILLION after tax profit.
And this is just one Big Oil company, the rest of them all made gargantuan profits also.
Now let’s not get into a philosophical discussion about the retired elementary school teacher in Kansas who has a hundred or so shares of ExxonMobil stock stashed away in her closet – these obscene profits are truly only enriching a very few already very rich individuals. At the expense of the American Public.
So, immediately slap a Price Cap on the at-pump-price of gasoline and petroleum products and begin that Cap at the maximum level of $1.00 (one dollar) per gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel. This would serve several purposes: One, it would allow the Middle-Class to more effectively budget their dwindling dollars; Two, reduce the cost of consumer goods that required shipping expenses, and Three, tell Big Oil the screwing of the American Public is over.
If the Federal Government in its almighty wisdom can nationalize the automotive industry – for the long-term good of the American Citizen – then why not the Petroleum Industry.
Cure Number Five:
All this hand-wringing about unsafe products can be summarized in one word – MADE IN CHINA.
Let’s be fair, and admit that the peanut butter scare is home-grown and there are most likely some other examples, but the vast majority of unsafe consumer goods come from other countries and the majority of that originate in China.
This includes toothpaste, shampoo, carpeting, drywall and hundreds if not thousands of other items that contain anti-freeze and other toxins and further thousands of other items that are unsafe, shoddily made and a waste of money.
The only individuals who have profited from the importation of this junk have been the heirs to the Wal-Mart dynasty who were knocked from the top of the Fortune 500 List by, guess who, ExxonMobil.
So, America must regain it’s manufacturing prowess, not necessarily for export to other countries, but for the safety, security and employment of its own People. Therefore, immediately begin a Manhattan Project to re-start the shutdown mills, factories and production capacity of products that would proudly bear the MADE IN USA label.
Cure Number Six:
Public employees of the Federal, State and Local governments now earn 40% more in wages and benefits than do employees in the private-sector. A monster has been created and it walks among us; it is called a BUREAUCRACY. Any bureaucracy is like an animal – the more it is fed, the bigger it gets. The bigger it gets, the more it needs to be fed. And the first, primary rule of any bureaucracy is to “Protect the Bureaucracy”.
So, it is time for the politicians to take pay cuts and some unpaid furlough days. I guarantee you that if they were locked in the room, without pay, until they passed some sensible legislation and performed their primary responsibility of getting America back on track, you would smell some smoke because they would be, finally, working hard. If the government can dictate to the Unions’ how much they can pay their employees, why can’t we dictate to them how much they will earn? They are, after all, Our employees.
Cure Number Seven:
Americans, Brothers and Sisters, Bro’s and Gal’s – it’s time for us to take the responsibility to insure our own futures and the futures of our children and their children. The political process is broken, that’s why we're in this mess now and I seriously doubt the politicians can fix it without our help, and our insistence.
Will we wait until the roof falls in before we realize, “Wow, I guess we got a problem?”
News Flash: It will be too late then. At that point it will be a mass, frantic struggle to merely survive.
What’s happening now will be remembered as the ‘good ole days’ compared to what will come if we don’t begin to correct this misaligned trajectory we're blasting away on.
Do you recall the days, not so long ago, when everything wasn’t a total mess and people had time to have some fun? Oh, sure, everyone worked and provided for their families, but there was some leisure time to enjoy hobbies, companionship of friends and other relaxing pastimes.
Now, there seems to be only time to work (if your lucky to have work), and worry.
I don’t believe those days of gainful employment and R&R are lost to history. I do believe we will have to dig deep to find them once again.
So, don’t you think we owe it to George, Thomas, Theodore and Abraham to try? They had the confidence in us to entrust us with this treasure - The United States of America - do we have the confidence to prove their judgement was correct? I believe we do. What do you think? What are we waiting for?
5:40 PM EST Thursday April 23, 2009