Economic Rantings
(I thought it would be better with a new President...)
Janet Kuypers, written 02/13/09
Okay, so the news-junkie in me watched the 24-hour drive by media every afternoon (you know, CNN, MSNBC, HLN, FOXnews) and I see coverage of the “stimulus” package, and the unity the Obama Presidency has brought between Democrats and Republicans.
Wait, what it has brought is a sharper divide between the parties, while President Obama tries to put his hand out “in good faith” to have the Republican party be a part of his cabinet.
Urgh, I haven’t been writing anything about politics since Obama fever swept the country over the night he was elected President. But when it comes to how easily Obama won the Presidency, I think that it didn’t matter which Republican candidate was actually chosen to run for President in 2008; everyone wanted Bush out so badly that it didn’t matter if you were more moderate like McCain or more hard-lined like Palin, nether side would have given them enough votes to save the Republican party. I mean, when it came to President George W. Bush and his embodiment of the Republican party; well, he seems to support life, but only as long as it is embryonic life, or the life of the terminally ill (it’s nice that the likes of Terri Schiavo and unborn fetuses take priority in his administration over those who are alive and committed crimes, like those he wholeheartedly supports putting to death in our criminal system, or over those who are alive and not wealthy, like all of the people who suffered so much through Katrina when not enough support was given to the town).
Sorry, I’m ranting.
That’s what happens when I don’t write an editorial in a long time, I guess.
Okay, let me get back to Obama (apparently I miss ripping on President Bush, sorry about that). President Obama seems to be trying to make the Republican party appreciate him as he goes to the offices of different branches to win them over, and he even tries to get Republicans seated on his cabinet. (Granted, one said he couldn’t do it because he can’t justify going along with Obama’s plans when they are so opposed to his beliefs, and other Democrat candidates pulled out of the running because they were caught with big time tax evasion problems... So much for Obama filling had cabinet in record time.) But at the same time, this man with the most liberal record during his Senate stay (which keep in mind was alarmingly short) has done everything in his power to push an insanely large bill for spending money America doesn’t have through all branches of the government so many (old as well as newly-created) agencies have more money shoved their way, just as Democrats seem to like to do. I see him in town hall meetings (good idea, pull McCain’s style, it works for you) making an effort to help individuals who are losing their homes or having a hard time paying bills when they fear foreclosure.
Okay, Mr. President, I have a question for you. I have seen people who have been squatters in their homes that they are otherwise about to lose because their interest on their variable annuity mortgages changed and they can’t afford their homes. One concrete example I can think of is a single woman, a librarian, who got a house she could never afford (and even thought was beyond her means), but sub-prime mortgages made her believe she could have what she can’t afford. Your plan of spending a ton of money that we do not have seems to be to help these people, people who took more than they could afford, because the industry kept enticing them, hoping they would take more, because in the short term it meant more money for their industry. Now, personally, I have not been able to hold a job in my profession since a near fatal car accident over a decade ago. And my husband, despite being recently told that his job is secure, has seen his earnings decrease over the past decade. I’m a vegetarian, and we still have to pay higher costs to heat our homes or to drive our energy-efficient cars, or even eat. Despite all of this, we have paid our mortgage and we are not in financial trouble. So I ask you, Mr. President, how can I justify you spending money that we don’t have to help people who made bad choices in their lives, and in turn we (the people who knew how to not get into debt) get nothing, and are further punished by your putting our country further into debt?
Okay, that was a long question. But I think it’s worth asking.
Maybe if I got a hold of a microphone at a town hall meeting, and I changed my question around and smothered it with sadness for my personal plight, maybe he could get his staff to personally help us out (like he has done before). Yeah, great, just what we need, our government to bail us out (even when they’re bailing out the ones in the most trouble already - just because others are getting stuff for free from him, does that mean I should stick my hand out for a hand-out too?).
I know, I know, we should know that just because everyone thought everything would be better with Barrack Obama as President, and he has stressed that this large economic problem is not something that will go away overnight, or possibly even in as little as one year, we have to keep reminding ourselves that the problems aren’t going to go away with the snap of our fingers. President Obama even stresses that a bill to nearly double America’s debt be on his desk before President’s Day. What an ironic thing, he’s setting President’s Day as the date he wants to nearly double our national debt - so much for President George W. Bush being the big spender. There is never a guarantee that our government doing this to us will solve the problems — as Biden even said, there’s probably still a 30% chance this will fail; apparently it isn’t enough borrowed money to save us from ourselves.
So no, I don’t have the answers. But maybe for now I should just stop watching so much political news. I mean, President Obama is even coming back to Chicago for Valentine’s Day tomorrow, maybe I should take a break form the madness too...
Copyright © 2009 Janet Kuypers.
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