The political ads featuring extensions of the truth (lies) have been quelled. The fact-checkers, whoever they are, have returned to their alternate occupations. The political pundits and ‘experts’ are in the process of grinding out the reasons for successes and failures and forecasts of what is going to happen next.
Concerning the President, it is fully acceptable to blame his predecessor for the terrible shape the government and the entire country is in. The good news is that the misnamed ‘Affordable Care Act’ that became law in 2010 will be economically tolerable during the coming administration. The bad news is that trillions of dollars of over- spending on the legislation will come due in future administrations. Contraceptives for women and ED tablets for men are subject to federal healthcare support. We thought romance was two-part harmony and as it turns out, it is two-part hedonism. Are haircuts on the healthcare agenda for the future?
About $1.03 trillion was spent on welfare programs in 2011. Some of these programs seem specious; like the large sums of money spent on advertising in cooperation with the Mexican government to encourage Mexican Nationals and Guest Workers to apply for and receive food stamps under the ‘Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). Are we providing other benefits for Mexican Nationals? Will immigration laws be developed or will we be searching for new avenues of spending?
The ‘Arab Spring’ that was hailed as a revolution against the evils of authoritarian, theocratic governance has given way to the nightmare of perpetual killing of thousands of citizen-patriots. The specter of rogue governments and their resistance to tranquility but predisposition to constant turmoil keeps neighboring countries as well as the entire world in dread and dismay.
This leads to distress regarding finance, energy production and distribution, transportation, culture, religion and politics. While we were told that Al Queda was ‘on the run’, we are trying to find out the truth about the killing of our ambassador and the three other US citizens in Benghazi. The word ‘truth’ has many shades of meaning in Washington lexicon.
Al Queda, the Taliban, Hamas and other Middle Eastern and North African evil consortiums are more resilient than we have been led to believe. Tribal conflicts and religious differences seem to lead to more dissention, attacks and killings of perceived opponents. Are members of the Muslim Brotherhood, as prevailing rulers in Egypt, friends of our friends (Israel)? Are our policies in the Middle East inducing a new era of peace or simply bringing into sharper focus the historical enmities of the past?
The USA has become so divided that we are unable to make long-term laws, tax codes and other statutes that are durable over time. The debt ceiling remains an example of enigmatic spending, borrowing, taxing and the growth of government and the lethargy of the private sector.
Here are some facts. Our nation has a debt of $16.2 trillion and growing. There are still many wars going on: Afghanistan, the contrived ‘war on women’, the ‘class warfare’ and other skirmishes too numerous to mention. The ‘Fiscal Cliff’ or ‘Taxmageddon’ remains on the horizon. Both parties have made recent statements of willingness to work with each other but the innocent taxpayers wonder when these political hacks are going to start working for us instead of against each other.
What was to be an administration of change and healing has become a nation of takers, a populace with deeply divided loyalties and squandered spending. Our mandate is that the results of the next four years must be a colossal triumph for the people and not the dismal aftermath of the past four years.
by Dick Baynton