We were chilly here this week! We had to put up with morning temperatures in the 50’s and daytime temperatures in the 70’s. We saw pictures (and that’s close enough) of the snow on the hill! Ben said few people even left their houses to celebrate Valentines because of the snow in Heber! That sure was not true in Casa Ramos II. They were slammed! Deb and I felt really good for them when we thought we would slip in at 6:00 get a burrito and a fried ice cream and come home and veg in front of the TV as our celebration! Instead we helped run food and things so other Valentines revelers had an enjoyable experience.
We had on Fox last night as we were waiting for our church group to gather. O’Reilly was again passionately making his case regarding the nations precarious economy; further stifled by shooting gas prices. He has hit the theme hard for a long time but has ramped it up this election season. Bill took the basic position that the President is intellectually a very sharp man that does not understand macro economics. He acknowledged that millions see Obama as a man that wants to intentionally create havoc in the economy so that he can cripple us and institute changes and push us into a European style economy.
Personally, it is not personal. Since I don’t personally know the man, I am not going to claim to know his motives. I would admit to being suspicious of many! Whether intentional or not, our nations digging itself deeper and deeper into debt brings with it tremendous consequence. Lou Dobbs put the gas spike into context when he pointed out that the 92% increase we have seen stems directly from the economics we have practiced as a nation. Dobbs pointed out two sides of the same coin at work. Our messed up economy meant our dollar was not worth much in the international market, so the price of petroleum, as it represents an international commodity , has been price adjusted so that on a local basis, it gets the price it would also get when sold in China. Secondly, our domestic petroleum production has not been utilized at home during our mild winter, so oil companies are exporting it to other places in the world that will pay the price. Like Wall Street did with mortgage securities, oil companies are seeking only one thing: immediate profits. The heck with those of us that get in the way!
I have two cents left in my pocket after filling the one ton with gas! I am going to give it to you now! Practically and finally, it matters not as to motive as to how we got into this national economic mess. We must recognize the mess! That represents the critical issue! People in Greece are burning and pillaging because their government benefits have been cut. This makes no sense as the government had no way of paying them. After making years of unrealistic promises of future benefits, the Greek government finally had to “fess” up and admit they simply could not deliver.
AA folks have a phrase: “To do the same thing day after day and expect different results defines insanity.” Grecians are being insane! They have been living in a broken system that spent way more than it took in, pretending magic would happen! Anyone who has ever had a bank account knows better! The bank reaches a point quickly where they do not pay out on the checks you write when you don’t have money to cover them. Why would any sensible Grecian think their government could do anything different? Sure, there are things banks (government) can do that we individuals can’t; like loan money. Those things are just short term fixes! Someone has to pay the loan or the bank goes broke!
Why can’t we understand that simple truth? How many banks have we seen go broke because the economy was so messed up people could not pay their loans? Why on earth then do we think it would be different with our government? Government employees, some union groups, and miscellaneous folks living under the delusion of entitlement have had the corporate privilege of receiving large promises of benefits. Now they are whining and complaining that some like Ohio’s governor are asking them to live in the real world by paying out based on the reality of what was taken in!
Here’s the world according to Call! People do not want to live God’s way! However, God made this planet and the people on it. We can try to rebel all we want! All that happens is we suffer the consequences of that rebellion. God’s book that God tells us reveals God and God’s ways lays out a way for us to live economically. We don’t have to be Harvard alum to understand it! The outline comes in simple form! Expect to work if you expect pay. Support your family! Don’t go “Tom Catting” after some other person or stuff that is not yours to have. Don’t hang with Tom Catters either! Their ways will rub off! Don’t con people. Do business fairly! Loan money fairly! Take a fair profit for your service! Pay employees fairly! Have compassion and empathy!
Greedy Wall Streeter’s set up the perfect storm for our present dilemma. They broke God’s rules by conning people with junk securities they knew were junk. They elaborately put together a con that anyone with all the details knew would implode sooner or later. They did not care because they were riding in the Loomis armored truck on their way to the bank! No compassion for what they did to you and your family!
Surprise, surprise! It does implode in time for it all to become political hay for some who say, “we can fix this by regulating those rotten banks that were part of this and borrowing billions to give out to our friends that think like we do”! Money from TARP falls like rain on the same banks that had been major players in Wall Street’s con! They didn’t use TARP to help you—no significant money in that! They bought other financial instruments from the Fed which made them money but that was a further ruse as it only was an infusion of more tax payer money to their coffers. Some, like Soros, benefited to the tune of millions on millions. His connections and philosophy certainly makes one stray into that “motive” arena of curiosity—but don’t be distracted. It is consequence we must deal with, not motive.
Fast forward a couple of years, and huge bail outs, ill conceived health care programs, etc have created a ton of debt that the government has no realistic way of expecting to repay. Like Grecians, some think a rabbit can be pulled out of the hat! Also like Grecians, they are out of touch—and wrong! Like our banking illustration, we are out of money to cover our checks. The bank is now doing its thing with loans to cover us. Yes there are temporary gyrations it can do but they all result in things like devalued dollars and high gas. Ain’t no way around it. You must live by the guidelines God gave us for things to work! In the long run you have to spend no more than you make! If you don’t there are consequences to suffer! Ask a Grecian! That’s the issue this election. What’s your vote?
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