Did you ever interact with someone who seemed the most kind, caring and considerate person while also impressing you with his intelligence and perspective, only to find another side to that person...leaving you disillusioned, disbelieving, and hurt? That is how I feel about our current President. It isn't the first time, and I could claim an excuse this time because I have never personally met Mr. Obama...
He is much like an actor on film or stage, having learned his lines and very good at presenting the image...and falling into the trap of confusing the role with his own existence. And also like an actor, he is very much concerned with his image and protecting it. He can act kind, caring, knowing and accept all kinds of turmoil around him, as long as it doesn't criticize him or harm what he sees as his image...which is extraordinarily high.
Well, this is true of a lot of Presidents. But what is interesting is how Mr. Obama's perception of what his image...and therefor himself...really is, and how he came to that perception.
As an example, President Johnson had a very high opinion of himself and his perception was that he was a good administrator, a good wielder of power, and a good judge of character...as well as one born to tell others what to do. He set about proving all of those things by working and developing those skills. By the time he became President, most of those visions of himself had been proven through "doing" those very things. So...his image, his perception, his concept of himself was grounded in reality. True, it wasn't perfect...nothing ever is...but reality and his version of it were roughly parallel. And many other President could be cited, but I won't waste the time here.
President Obama is different. He clearly sees himself as a visionary. Even his book, "Dreams of my Father", is based on dreams...on a vision...only occasionally rooted in reality and almost never on accomplishments. It is the stuff dreams are, and should, be made of and totally desirable and acceptable. But I would suggest that a person growing up with dreams to become an airline pilot would not be hired to actually perform in that capacity by any airline without proving through accomplishments and ability that real ability and training supported the appointment to a position with so much at stake. Dreams just aren't enough.
Mr. Obama has proven accomplishments in one area only...campaigning. He is seasoned at it and very good at it...even though he is still developing the skill. It is his best and highest skill. A couple of years in State Government and as a junior Senator don't really qualify anyone for the office of President. His education seems absolutely wonderful...except no one seems to know how he performed or what courses he took and how he did, other than to pass.
Yet Mr. Obama clearly has an image of himself that is high, positive, and exalted. All of this is desirable as a means of motivation to strive to achieve and learn and press on toward fulfilling that image in reality. But the dream, the aspiration, is not enough to achieve. It is a starting point only, not a qualification. Yet our country has chosen to honor Mr. Obama with election to the highest post in the land on the basis of a dream and the quality of campaigning.
By so doing, we have encouraged and condoned Mr. Obama's dream as reality. Can we fault him for accepting the coronation? I cannot. But that doesn't mean that he is a good President or a good administrator or a qualified leader. And, like many a young person immersed in and believing their dreams, he feels criticism of him or his policies are direct affronts to his person, to his image, and he reacts emotionally and badly. See him when confronted, he deflects blame (if unavoidable) to others and otherwise denies any failure or culpability. Always. It is NEVER his fault. He shows this so clearly in his posture and in his facial expression that it is sometimes embarrassing to watch.
The good news is that it is there to observe and note. The bad news is that so many in the media and in his party are so tied to his success or failure that they cannot acknowledge his inability to perform without damaging their own image or threaten their own jobs.
Dreams. Such a good and indispensable element with which to start. But so incredibly inadequate as a basis for performance!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
An Admittion
I admit to a habit. I sit at my keyboard 2 or 2 1/2 hours a day. Usually it is practice, but several days a week I volunteer at Senior Centers her in Santa Fe where I play an old 6 ft. grand. it allows me to remember the joy or playing on a real piano. I sold my 5 ft. grand when I moved here. I love my keyboard. I can hear the sound of up to 124 instruments on it. set it to do percussionkl, and it has the keyboard feel of a piano. But...it isn't the same. However, I can sit a my keyboard or at a piano for many hours and never come away tired. I come away energized.
I suffer from depression. I always have. I didn't know that until late in life, and I was given medication. It took away my depression. It also took away my joy. I decided to deal with it myself and gave up the medication. It was difficult. It is still difficult. I am dealing with it now ... and it will go on for the next two or four weeks. But...I will survive. I always will. And it is music that will save me.
Music for me is a substitution for words and for emotions...it is a substitute for what others use as an expression of their feelings...hidden from most. I can remain real, ... yet remain hidden and private from most. Hopefuly, it all remains subtle...
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Today's America leaves me exhausted
I had to stop writing blogs for awhile. Focusing on the idiocy of the political and the educational world in particular left me depressed and drained. There are real problems. None of them are incapable of being solved. But no one wants to eliminate them unless they can garner some personal or ideological gain...and under no circumstances do they want to "fix" anything if it involves diminishing in any combination their power or wealth.
Today I read that the SAT scores hit a new low this past year. And the first comment by the testers was that no one should worry because it was due to more "students" (whatever that means these days) were taking the test than ever before and to the increased "diversity" of the pool taking the test. Huh? Right...and it don't rain in Indianapolis in the summertime.
Our Government is to blame for this idiocy. The entire Federal Government, including Congress, every President, and the Supreme Court. Because it all goes back to an unwillingness (or inability) to accurately evaluate and then design a way to correct the results of racial prejudice.
Rather than recognize that the in-equality of the past needed to be corrected substantively, the Government forces determined instead to institute the appearance of equality, rather than make it a fact.
For the most part, life has consequences...at least it used to. It was results that counted, not excuses. If you failed a test, you flunked. If you did that enough, you got "left back a grade" and some actually left school at the earliest permissible age because they just didn't want to study...or couldn't. Schools were for learning. So were Colleges and Universities. Your performance got you entrance and progress and a degree. The degree meant something...it vouched for your achievement.
But, instead of focusing on the opportunity for all to learn and thus achieve according to that achievement, the Government dictated that minorities were now to be granted entrance, and degrees because of their minority status rather than their competitive achievement. The decision was to make the world look as if all was well and, in fact, guarantee that minorities would have the appearance of success whether it was earned...or not.
This has had enormous consequences to our nation...well, actually, no longer a nation but a country. Because the damage is multifaceted. First, minorities have not been helped by the program. Everyone, including the minorities, knows that the "achievements" are bogus...or at the very least, are suspect...regardless of the piece of paper. The same goes for hiring, due to Federal requirements that once again throw out achievement in favor of appearances. If people want all to strive for knowledge and achievement, you must make the opportunity equal...but you must require the equal achievement of learning and ability on an equal basis as well. To act as the Government has done is to subtly (well, maybe not so much) suggest that minorities actually cannot compete...at least not on an equal basis. How totally insulting, demeaning...and stupid.
But that is only the start of the damage. All who have grown up in this atmosphere of selective granting of artificial status see that it ISN'T achievement that is rewarded...and hard work and study is not the key to a better life. They have watched as consequences of non-performance or under-performance have been either eliminated or lowered. So...they demand the same. And, in the prevailing sense of "equality" they have been granted the same "pass" to avoid being left back in school, or denied admission to college, or denied their diploma just because they didn't do the work.
Students today will, it appears, not have to learn how to write cursive because, I am told, they all use computers or "text" or some such. I have no idea what they will do if the power fails, or someone sets of a neutron bomb that takes out all the cell towers and crashes the power grid. I suppose it will inspire a whole new set of cave paintings. And I refuse to even consider how they will sign their names to any legal documents...I suppose there wont be any need for them, as no one will be held to whatever "thought" was a binding agreement.
Young people coming out of school at any level today already can't add or subtract without a calculator or some sort. If a scanner breakes in a store, the clerks cannot tell you what to pay if you are buying more than two items...and if the scanner malfunctions, have no concept from the illogic of the inaccurate total that it is, in fact, inaccurate. No wonder people find it hard to get jobs...they think their piece of paper means something while they are functionally both illiterate and untrainable except for the most mundane of tasks. Yet they insist on benefits, pay, and treatment as "entitled."
So of course the SAT scores are down. Why bother to work to learn all those things that get you higher scores; they don't matter. These poor disillusioned souls have been led, trained and indoctrinated to expect that achievement not only doesn't matter...it isn't even to be considered.
The Government, the Educational (so-called) community, and all forms of authority have determined that thou shall not say "no" to anyone...even parents are prevented from requiring and enforcing their own children's upbringing.
No wonder the United States is populated in this century by narcissists. It is how they have been raised.
Today I read that the SAT scores hit a new low this past year. And the first comment by the testers was that no one should worry because it was due to more "students" (whatever that means these days) were taking the test than ever before and to the increased "diversity" of the pool taking the test. Huh? Right...and it don't rain in Indianapolis in the summertime.
Our Government is to blame for this idiocy. The entire Federal Government, including Congress, every President, and the Supreme Court. Because it all goes back to an unwillingness (or inability) to accurately evaluate and then design a way to correct the results of racial prejudice.
Rather than recognize that the in-equality of the past needed to be corrected substantively, the Government forces determined instead to institute the appearance of equality, rather than make it a fact.
For the most part, life has consequences...at least it used to. It was results that counted, not excuses. If you failed a test, you flunked. If you did that enough, you got "left back a grade" and some actually left school at the earliest permissible age because they just didn't want to study...or couldn't. Schools were for learning. So were Colleges and Universities. Your performance got you entrance and progress and a degree. The degree meant something...it vouched for your achievement.
But, instead of focusing on the opportunity for all to learn and thus achieve according to that achievement, the Government dictated that minorities were now to be granted entrance, and degrees because of their minority status rather than their competitive achievement. The decision was to make the world look as if all was well and, in fact, guarantee that minorities would have the appearance of success whether it was earned...or not.
This has had enormous consequences to our nation...well, actually, no longer a nation but a country. Because the damage is multifaceted. First, minorities have not been helped by the program. Everyone, including the minorities, knows that the "achievements" are bogus...or at the very least, are suspect...regardless of the piece of paper. The same goes for hiring, due to Federal requirements that once again throw out achievement in favor of appearances. If people want all to strive for knowledge and achievement, you must make the opportunity equal...but you must require the equal achievement of learning and ability on an equal basis as well. To act as the Government has done is to subtly (well, maybe not so much) suggest that minorities actually cannot compete...at least not on an equal basis. How totally insulting, demeaning...and stupid.
But that is only the start of the damage. All who have grown up in this atmosphere of selective granting of artificial status see that it ISN'T achievement that is rewarded...and hard work and study is not the key to a better life. They have watched as consequences of non-performance or under-performance have been either eliminated or lowered. So...they demand the same. And, in the prevailing sense of "equality" they have been granted the same "pass" to avoid being left back in school, or denied admission to college, or denied their diploma just because they didn't do the work.
Students today will, it appears, not have to learn how to write cursive because, I am told, they all use computers or "text" or some such. I have no idea what they will do if the power fails, or someone sets of a neutron bomb that takes out all the cell towers and crashes the power grid. I suppose it will inspire a whole new set of cave paintings. And I refuse to even consider how they will sign their names to any legal documents...I suppose there wont be any need for them, as no one will be held to whatever "thought" was a binding agreement.
Young people coming out of school at any level today already can't add or subtract without a calculator or some sort. If a scanner breakes in a store, the clerks cannot tell you what to pay if you are buying more than two items...and if the scanner malfunctions, have no concept from the illogic of the inaccurate total that it is, in fact, inaccurate. No wonder people find it hard to get jobs...they think their piece of paper means something while they are functionally both illiterate and untrainable except for the most mundane of tasks. Yet they insist on benefits, pay, and treatment as "entitled."
So of course the SAT scores are down. Why bother to work to learn all those things that get you higher scores; they don't matter. These poor disillusioned souls have been led, trained and indoctrinated to expect that achievement not only doesn't matter...it isn't even to be considered.
The Government, the Educational (so-called) community, and all forms of authority have determined that thou shall not say "no" to anyone...even parents are prevented from requiring and enforcing their own children's upbringing.
No wonder the United States is populated in this century by narcissists. It is how they have been raised.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Why do we need to only elect a Politician as President?
First of all, for anyone who bothers to read my ramblings, I apologize for not posting for awhile. The politics has been so overwhelmingly catastrophic that I just couldn't make myself start commenting on anything without feeling intense sorrow for the America that once was. But...as with all sad things...nothing changes and one has to get up and start putting one foot in front of the other and trust that there is something worthwhile somewhere down the path...
I was listening to Herman Cain the other day. He is a man who started with very little and made a success of himself and his business and seemingly helped a lot of people find work along the way while not being a crook, or a liar. And he cares enough about America to run for public office...the Presidency, to be precise. Now that might be the only obvious error in judgement that he has made...at least of which I am familiar.
But...then I am besieged by multiple comments by all of the "talking heads" in the media saying that he lacks political experience and thus cannot be elected.
Why? As he said months ago, when questioned about his lack of political experience, how has electing those with political experience been working out for us so far? How well have we been served by electing those practiced in the art of deception and feigning sincere concern for the electorate while pursuing the aggrandizement of power and protecting their own jobs? How well have the "governmentalists" (all those in public office who believe that government should be a major factor in defining and solving the challenges presented to the citizenry...without any proof of agreement of the populace with this premise.) done in such a simple thing as openly admitting that (mostly) previous office holders have promised free lunches of various types that just didn't, and don't, exist and the bill is now due...that the government is now going to have to change the benefits for the future and cut back on current "free" lunches because we have run out of money? Neither the President nor Congress can even make that simple admission...they are liars by genetic disposition.
But that doesn't answer why no one in the media and very few among the public consider Mr. Cain a legitimate and worthy candidate. Again...why?
Sadly, I suspect that it is because we, as a people, have become comfortable with the lies our politicians tell us...we want to believe in a fairyland where all things are possible and no one ever gets the bill. We want to believe in a substitute "Big Daddy" who will take care of us, even as we refuse to remember the times when our original parent said "NO" or we suffered the consequence of some forbidden act or decision...indeed, we all have very convenient and selective memories. Apparently, we want to be conned. We are happy with it...and narcissistically only slightly discomforted by the thought that our children or grandchildren will have the fruits of our self-indulgence.
Devout Christians believe that Christ died for our sins. Apparently the people of today's America believe that their children and grandchildren should do the same.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
My Kingdom for a (real) Candidate...
Call me disillusioned. Call me disappointed. And...probably, call me an idiot for wishing for the impossible.
The elapse of time reveals "stuff" that books and articles almost never share. One of those is that both what are called "Left" and "Right" ideologies started out very close together at the beginning of the last century and have been moving farther to the left with every passing year. It was, among other motivations, the recognition of this that was behind Bill Buckley's efforts to enable the formation of a real Conservative movement in this country.
None of the governmentalists (as I call them) recognize, value or make of the highest priority the protection of the freedom of the individual, coupled with the resulting self-reliance and responsibility (which actually includes enduring the consequences of bad decisions as well as the rewards of good ones) and the corresponding requirement of Government to stick to the one reasonable activity of protecting our borders.
Ronald Reagan was the only President in my lifetime that seemed to recognize the danger of Government...yet he was unable to accomplish more than slow the tide of growth and power, while attempting to protect individual freedom, initiative and responsibility, of the Federal Government. It will take more than just finding the right President...it will require finding a new Congress. Sadly...that will probably never happen.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The Argument is NOT about Entitlement Reduction...
Only in America is lying encouraged and actually protected by the Law of the Land...especially in politics. I have spent the better part of a month trying to analyze the arguments about what is falsely called "Entitlement" reform. Such a misnomer...everyone who has worked at all has had part of their pay confiscated to "fund" both Social Security and Medicare, but the politicians for some reason want to call paying back what we have paid for an "Entitlement." But that is a subject for still another day's discussion...or thought...or whatever...
Today I want to write out my understanding of the argument regarding Medicare. The so-called Republican plan is pretty easy to get. Ryan has written out his plan and taken whatever heat or praise that the facts of the plan elicit. It acknowledges that right now, payments taken in return for a promise to pay in the future are, in fact, a fraud and a crime...since the funds knowingly will not be available to provide the promised benefits in the future. So he proposes keeping the promises for those for whom it is too late to do anything themselves to cover for the fraud of the government. But, he openly changes the Medicare system to 1) bring it closer to the people by moving control away from Washington, D.C., and into the individual states, and 2) bringing it even more in tune with the people by making the amounts available to the individual available to that individual so that he or she may chose who or what supplier of Medical Coverage should bet their coverage.
But...and there is no suggestion that this is NOT true...the amount of money will not increase and there will be a possibility of financial burden that falls on individuals. Those who can afford it will pay toward Doctor's visits and will contribute toward services costs.
Here is the curious fact, though. The so-called Democrat solution has exactly the same results...at least as far as reducing the dollar value of benefits is concerned. Yes, indeed. Sure, I know you haven't seen any video of any Democrat pushing "granny" over a cliff...but everybody is sure going off of a cliff...sometime.
The only question...and the only difference between the ideological left and right...is when and who will be blamed. It is NOT a question of IF.
Here are the facts as I read and hear them:
1) Both sides actually agree that nothing will change for all current citizens and current recipients who are 55 years of age or older;
2) The Ryan plan puts funding policy directly into the hands of the individual state and individual funding decisions on provider and coverage selection directly into the hands of the individual who has paid into the system. He relies on competitive free-market competition to keep those premiums as low as possible and the benefits as inclusive as possible, but that is not controlled by government edict, but by the laws of supply and demand, which will presumably be intensified by eliminating the state laws limiting cross-state competition in the area of Health Insurance;
3) The Democrat plan (as explained by everyone who has spoken with any apparent intelligence and honesty on the subject, and as verified as much as possible by my reading of the Obamacare bill) is, of course, put into effect by Obamacare is claims to reduce costs. Actually, it doesn't...but, again, that particular element is for another discussion. What is important, and what Democrat spokesmen will NEVER admit, is that it also reduces benefits over time. Yep... somebody is going off the cliff. But no Democrat will ever have his or her direct fingerprints on the wheelchair. Why? Because they blame it on someone ... anyone...everyone...else.
"How can that be?" you ask. Simple. Obamacare over time required cost controls which effect payments to providers. And they set up bureaucratic committees that will determine what is "proper" treatment that will be covered...read, "paid for"...by reimbursement. It also reduces over time the amount paid to Doctors and Hospitals for specific types of care and treatment. Note, that they still argue that these payments...even as reduced...will be the "right" amount to ensure that the patient gets total care with now additional payment by them.
What does this mean? It means that as the payments that you were told were going to provide you with medical care get too small for Doctors and Hospitals to make a living and pay off their own huge debts, they will chose to not accept patients who are on Medicare. And Insurance Companies who you have paid for ancillary services to avoid any additional payments for gaps in coverage will adjust their coverages to match that which the government has dictated.
The result is that the Democrat plan will also have some people...maybe people who are not yet as old as granny...pushed off of the proverbial coverage cliff. The only difference is that Obamacare will blame the Insurance companies, the doctors and the hospitals and claim innocence of any contributory involvement.
This is very attractive to all politicians for whom results are not nearly as important as avoidance of blame. It is also attractive to a lot of voters who embrace the concept of victim-hood and also value the concept of taking a chance of failure if that failure will ultimately be able to be blamed on someone else.
The Ryan plan acknowledge that there is no certainty of total coverage, but insures that the value that you pay into the program will come back to you...and attempts to put into individuals' hands the power to maximize the economic power that those funds represent. Yes...it does put the responsibility of using those funds in an intelligent way on the States and the Individual. That means that you have the power of achieving great success or abysmal failure. Amazing concept, isn't it: Freedom of Choice is NOT Freedom from Consequences...good, ...or bad. But there is a certain rush of excitement there...or is it the breath of FREEDOM. You decide.
(Oh...and for you non-believers...currently, your Medicare premiums over the years total about $57,000 while the medical benefits that you use total in excess of $158,000. In a few years those numbers will be near or above $80,000 and $230,000 respectively. Medicare IS broke...and you need to accept that.)
Today I want to write out my understanding of the argument regarding Medicare. The so-called Republican plan is pretty easy to get. Ryan has written out his plan and taken whatever heat or praise that the facts of the plan elicit. It acknowledges that right now, payments taken in return for a promise to pay in the future are, in fact, a fraud and a crime...since the funds knowingly will not be available to provide the promised benefits in the future. So he proposes keeping the promises for those for whom it is too late to do anything themselves to cover for the fraud of the government. But, he openly changes the Medicare system to 1) bring it closer to the people by moving control away from Washington, D.C., and into the individual states, and 2) bringing it even more in tune with the people by making the amounts available to the individual available to that individual so that he or she may chose who or what supplier of Medical Coverage should bet their coverage.
But...and there is no suggestion that this is NOT true...the amount of money will not increase and there will be a possibility of financial burden that falls on individuals. Those who can afford it will pay toward Doctor's visits and will contribute toward services costs.
Here is the curious fact, though. The so-called Democrat solution has exactly the same results...at least as far as reducing the dollar value of benefits is concerned. Yes, indeed. Sure, I know you haven't seen any video of any Democrat pushing "granny" over a cliff...but everybody is sure going off of a cliff...sometime.
The only question...and the only difference between the ideological left and right...is when and who will be blamed. It is NOT a question of IF.
Here are the facts as I read and hear them:
1) Both sides actually agree that nothing will change for all current citizens and current recipients who are 55 years of age or older;
2) The Ryan plan puts funding policy directly into the hands of the individual state and individual funding decisions on provider and coverage selection directly into the hands of the individual who has paid into the system. He relies on competitive free-market competition to keep those premiums as low as possible and the benefits as inclusive as possible, but that is not controlled by government edict, but by the laws of supply and demand, which will presumably be intensified by eliminating the state laws limiting cross-state competition in the area of Health Insurance;
3) The Democrat plan (as explained by everyone who has spoken with any apparent intelligence and honesty on the subject, and as verified as much as possible by my reading of the Obamacare bill) is, of course, put into effect by Obamacare is claims to reduce costs. Actually, it doesn't...but, again, that particular element is for another discussion. What is important, and what Democrat spokesmen will NEVER admit, is that it also reduces benefits over time. Yep... somebody is going off the cliff. But no Democrat will ever have his or her direct fingerprints on the wheelchair. Why? Because they blame it on someone ... anyone...everyone...else.
"How can that be?" you ask. Simple. Obamacare over time required cost controls which effect payments to providers. And they set up bureaucratic committees that will determine what is "proper" treatment that will be covered...read, "paid for"...by reimbursement. It also reduces over time the amount paid to Doctors and Hospitals for specific types of care and treatment. Note, that they still argue that these payments...even as reduced...will be the "right" amount to ensure that the patient gets total care with now additional payment by them.
What does this mean? It means that as the payments that you were told were going to provide you with medical care get too small for Doctors and Hospitals to make a living and pay off their own huge debts, they will chose to not accept patients who are on Medicare. And Insurance Companies who you have paid for ancillary services to avoid any additional payments for gaps in coverage will adjust their coverages to match that which the government has dictated.
The result is that the Democrat plan will also have some people...maybe people who are not yet as old as granny...pushed off of the proverbial coverage cliff. The only difference is that Obamacare will blame the Insurance companies, the doctors and the hospitals and claim innocence of any contributory involvement.
This is very attractive to all politicians for whom results are not nearly as important as avoidance of blame. It is also attractive to a lot of voters who embrace the concept of victim-hood and also value the concept of taking a chance of failure if that failure will ultimately be able to be blamed on someone else.
The Ryan plan acknowledge that there is no certainty of total coverage, but insures that the value that you pay into the program will come back to you...and attempts to put into individuals' hands the power to maximize the economic power that those funds represent. Yes...it does put the responsibility of using those funds in an intelligent way on the States and the Individual. That means that you have the power of achieving great success or abysmal failure. Amazing concept, isn't it: Freedom of Choice is NOT Freedom from Consequences...good, ...or bad. But there is a certain rush of excitement there...or is it the breath of FREEDOM. You decide.
(Oh...and for you non-believers...currently, your Medicare premiums over the years total about $57,000 while the medical benefits that you use total in excess of $158,000. In a few years those numbers will be near or above $80,000 and $230,000 respectively. Medicare IS broke...and you need to accept that.)
Friday, May 6, 2011
California could become our Greece
It is both entertaining and hopeful to focus on the now open Presidential Political Season. We will, of course, tire of it in time and whine about just getting it over with, but for now it is a chance for renewed hope and optimism...for some of us,at least. But there is an ugly threat on the horizon that threatens to make the storms in the South seem minor by comparison and that we have been "helped" to ignore by both the media and the politicians: the failure of California to take any steps to solve their insolvency.
If we are not careful, California will become to America what Greece is about to become to the European Union...a death knell and cause of economic catastrophe...we won't have to wait for the deficit bills to overwhelm us, California's failure will kick us over the cliff way earlier than that.
We all should follow what is happening in and with Greece if we want to see our own future. The European Union (EU) has rules against bailouts and debt restructuring, but that is apparently going to happen shortly. They (the EU) have already done this with Portugal...against their own rules. What does this mean? Well, Germany has indicated that they, if the process continues, will abandon the EU. Whether that happens or not (and the odds are that the German Electorate will demand it), the value of the Euro will plummet.
Consider then our own beautiful state of California...
Known by some as "the land of fruits and nuts", they do not have a balanced budget. They have no (realistic) plan to balance their budget, and, if they were a public company, would no be rated as a penny stock with no value whatsoever. Yet they continue on unafraid and promising a continuation of the "free" lunch...oh, excuse me..."free" everything.
Guess who they will ultimately expect to pay for it? Yep You and Me! The rest of the United States. And we do not have the money to do it even if we decided it was right. But the worst thing (for California) is that we don't think it is the right thing to do. But...will Obama and the Congress declare that "California is TOO BIG TO FAIL." Where have we heard that one before.
Just think...a political decision that would accelerate our financial demise. Think it won't happen under President Obama? Really? What are you smoking...because I want some! And if you thing this can turn out well for the United States of America, just keep following the developments in the EU and Greece (and the other PIGS [Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain]).
It is absolutely as important to us as is the Presidential campaign.
If we are not careful, California will become to America what Greece is about to become to the European Union...a death knell and cause of economic catastrophe...we won't have to wait for the deficit bills to overwhelm us, California's failure will kick us over the cliff way earlier than that.
We all should follow what is happening in and with Greece if we want to see our own future. The European Union (EU) has rules against bailouts and debt restructuring, but that is apparently going to happen shortly. They (the EU) have already done this with Portugal...against their own rules. What does this mean? Well, Germany has indicated that they, if the process continues, will abandon the EU. Whether that happens or not (and the odds are that the German Electorate will demand it), the value of the Euro will plummet.
Consider then our own beautiful state of California...
Known by some as "the land of fruits and nuts", they do not have a balanced budget. They have no (realistic) plan to balance their budget, and, if they were a public company, would no be rated as a penny stock with no value whatsoever. Yet they continue on unafraid and promising a continuation of the "free" lunch...oh, excuse me..."free" everything.
Guess who they will ultimately expect to pay for it? Yep You and Me! The rest of the United States. And we do not have the money to do it even if we decided it was right. But the worst thing (for California) is that we don't think it is the right thing to do. But...will Obama and the Congress declare that "California is TOO BIG TO FAIL." Where have we heard that one before.
Just think...a political decision that would accelerate our financial demise. Think it won't happen under President Obama? Really? What are you smoking...because I want some! And if you thing this can turn out well for the United States of America, just keep following the developments in the EU and Greece (and the other PIGS [Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain]).
It is absolutely as important to us as is the Presidential campaign.
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