Feb 11, 2009 Politics and the economy

Well January is over and it was a disaster. Now it is February and the congress has, in its wisdom-less vision, passed a bill full of pork and some worthwhile projects under the disguise of a stimulus package. It does not contain much that will actually help us reduce the severity of the recession nor will it create a robust economy in the long term.

As usual (no change here) the Democratic House of Representatives passed a feel good, get votes at home bill that your kids and grand kids will be paying for into the next century. The Republicans in the Senate fought to reduce some of the pork and move it into tax reductions but it still increases the debt dramatically and, in my judgment, will not be effective in the long run. I’m not even sure it will have much of an effect in the short run beyond the positive jaw boning it may engender. “My advice would be next time the administration should write the bill, and not leave it to all the disparate odds and ends of the Congress,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). “It’s kind of an institutional problem because everybody has worked for years and has certain things that they really want to get in a bill.” Perhaps Ms. Feinstein has unintentionally sent a signal to the voters; the only way to effect change is to change out all the long term members of Congress and replace them with new blood. Hummm.

At the end of the day, the difficult choices have been largely avoided and the band aid applied. Soon the hemorrhage will either overpower the band aid or infection will enter the wound. If the bleeding continues we can look forward to larger band aids. If we get an infection we will see a leadership shift in the mid term elections which will continue the lack of a cohesive and effective plan until we are near terminal. This is what happened in Germany in the 1930’s and finally a populist politician named Adolf Hitler rose to prominence and we know the rest. Economic dislocation is a powerful condition and it shifts the cultural center. In doubt that it could happen here? Just look back at the human behavior in New Orleans during the days following Katrina. That was not man’s finest hour. The rule of order degenerated into everyone for themselves virtually overnight.

Since this problem isn’t limited to the USA but has roots in every country in the world, we can anticipate a resurgence of Nationalism and the partisan approach to everything. Globalization will be viewed as the root of all evil and, while in reality it is a more efficient distribution of resources and more efficient producer of good and services, it will be viewed in the narrow scope of ‘What’s in it for Me’ by each country. This will cause finger pointing and the crushing of the third world economies. When the third world is crushed and the developed economies are no longer working in harmony we have the potential for a very bad situation, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the 1930’s. You know, that time period that brought us the Great Depression, Adolph Hitler and world wide strife. Are we in for an instant replay?

Are the CEO’s of major companies that have outsourced our standard of living along with our jobs the real enemy? Are they domestic terrorists? Or was it us, in our quest for a higher standard of living for ourselves; neighbors and relatives be damned. Was it our “who cares where it was made as long as I can have it cheaper” attitudes that made us effective domestic terrorists? Was it a populist legislature, so focused on giving us whatever we asked for (to assure re-election) that is to blame? Should they have been more far sighted and cautious about allowing too much globalization to occur too quickly?

These are questions that are starting to emerge. The continued arrogance shown by some (Corporate Jets, Million Dollar Office Remodels, and Exorbitant Bonuses etc.) are causing the general population to become agitated. So much so, that the President has made it a political point to place some constraints on those receiving assistance from the Government. Taking food stamps and welfare to support your Island hopping vacation would land you in jail. How, exactly, is spending government bailout money any different, one has to wonder?

Perhaps the Russians were right when they thought, “the Americans will self destruct, we don’t need to worry about them”.

The only sure answer is for every single one of us to get involved, to become students of the times and be aware what is going on around us. Only when we watch with eye open wide and brain engaged, will we begin to select the right people to represent our interest. Just as we select a physician for their training and experience we should use the same criteria for our representatives at all levels of government, local, state and national.

If you hate politics, get over it. It affects you and everyone you care about. Do it for your own good, do it for theirs, just do it. Get involved, learn, study and elect smart, good quality people. Then and only then will we truly have a government of the people, by the people and a government that will provide for the people. One last thought, "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” (Gerald Ford,38th President in his Presidential address to a joint session of Congress 12 August 1974).

We do live in interesting times.