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Most Americans, especially Floridians, are neuron-challenged. Too many of us can't hold two thoughts in mind at the same time. Perhaps, our abundant sunshine fries our synapses; perhaps, we choose the bliss of ignorance. Either way, unless we shake ourselves out of our coma, we'll dig our own graves.
That said, call me a cockeyed optimist, I believe that all of our current financial woes are man-made and readily solvable. So, now that we are within spitting distance of Nov. 4, I am making a last-ditch effort to pull out the stops and get as many people to connect the dots between our in-the-ditch economy and the primary reason for it. Once they are able to yoke two thoughts at a given moment, they will know who should be our next president.
No surprise: The media talk about only what's in front of them. Their banter in recent days about our anemic economy, bailouts and the culprits for our current debacle typically puts the emPHASis on the wrong sylLABle. The mortgage crisis is a symptom, not a primary cause of our problem. It's Iraq.
The first thought to get your gray matter around is the sucking sound draining our economy comes from Baghdad and the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld Iraq invasion. The prez gave tax breaks to the rich; then, he deposed Saddam Hussein. He and his henchmen never made provisions for financing the occupation, because they didn't think there would be one.
Meanwhile, as the cost of the invasion mounted with no way for us to pay for it except by swelling the deficit, Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan pumped the economy up by artificially lowering interest rates. That disastrous decision set the real estate boom in motion, swelled the national debt and devalued the dollar.
The second thought to get your gray matter around is that, unless we end the money-sucking of our presence in Iraq, the more we bail out failing financial institutions, the more we'll do ourselves in.
McCain and Obama talk tax cuts, but both plans add trillions to the national debt. Only Obama's commitment to tax the richest of the rich makes sense. If Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-McCain wins the White House, you'll suffer more of the same economic pain, because McCain will keep us in Iraq. Obama's the man to get us out of there. Hold those two thoughts, then cast one vote!
Stephen L. Goldstein duels the issues with Kingsley Guy on alternate Fridays. E-mail him at trend [email protected].
No one seems to be talking about Iraq and its financial impact upon our economy during this current "The Sky Is Falling" negotiations.
Blame this economic mess on Bush's war in Iraq -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
I think we all know that wars cost us money but we've been through wars before and haven't been in this financial mess... at least that I can remember... Hard to blame it strictly on the war...
I think we all know that wars cost us money but we've been through wars before and haven't been in this financial mess... at least that I can remember... Hard to blame it strictly on the war...
Except this is the first time in history a leader has ever...ever...ever... cut taxes during wartime.
Not a thing.
What does this have to do with the housing problem?
What does this have to do with the housing problem?
The normal effect is that Americans start buying more American products and avoid foreign products during war as a show of support (though without realizing it). This time though any number of possible reasons as to why it hasn't worked out that way.
No, not a thing. Except for the whole draining our treasury to the tune of $10.3 billion dollars a month. The Bush administration request for 2008 was $196 billion for both wars, with $159 billion going to Iraq, according to a summary by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
Praytell, what's offsetting that?
