I believe America is about to lose its place of power on the world scene. While some Americans (even politicians) think that is a good thing, I do not. We have been a force for good for a long time--without American, Hitler would be in control in Europe and a cruel Japanese dictator would be ruling Asia. Be that as it may, as we come into the new year, our power will drastically decrease. The good news is, however, that I believe the influence of radical Muslims will also be decreasing. As moderate Muslims begin to see more of what radical Islam is doing, they tend to move away from it. Unfortunately, there will still be places where hate is taught in school, but I believe their effect will begin to decrease rather than increase. Where has our power gone?
Somewhere along the line integrity became an outmoded value in our election of leaders. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON was released in 1939; it was a portrait of where we were headed, only in real life, the good guys were not necessarily winning. Let's look at some of the decisions our leadership has made recently.
1. I seriously doubt we will see offshore drilling in this country. Congress is not able to pass a workable bill to allow American to become energy efficient. Has it occurred to anyone that California could stimulate its economy and begin to solve its tax problems by drilling offshore?
2. By denying a trade agreement with Columbia, we turned out backs on a country that desperately wants to be our ally in South America. Columbia has much to fear from their next-door neighbor Venezuela, and we have shown them that they cannot rely on us.
3. The repercussions of the financial bailouts have yet to be seen. There are stories out there about bonus money being used to finance spa weekends, outrageous bonuses for executives, and other things the money was not intended for. There is probably much more of that to come.
4. We have forgotten fiscal responsibility. Where is the money the government is spending coming from? How is any of this government spending related to the spending priorities stated in our Constitution. Does anyone remember the Constitution?
5. Instead of the common man going to Washington and serving a term or two then going back home to live under the laws he has written, we have created career politicians. Congress has the best health care and the best retirement program in America. They are not under Social Security and they also have separate health care coverage. Where is their incentive to fix Social Security if it doesn't apply to them? Why are they planning to meddle in health care for other people when it does not apply to them? Can they be trusted with other peoples healthcare?
I believe that answer to a lot of our problems is term limits, but I am not sure an average American can be elected to State or national office with today's rules. The amount of money it takes to run a campaign is astounding, and the job really doesn't pay that much (although they just gave themselves a raise). I'm not up for a taxpayers' revolt, but we do need to vote more carefully as a nation.
Leave a comment