At the Point of Precarious

I don’t think most Americans realize the precarious position in which our nation now finds itself. Few really realize that we could be approaching a crisis of proportions that would make the Great Depression look like a “Sunday School picnic”!

Our economy is already in a recession.  The Bush years of “lower taxes, but more spending” are beginning to take their toll.

The housing industry is in shambles.  The take over of IndyMac Bancorp, Inc. by federal regulators on Friday is just another in the long series of steps that have emasculated the home buying process.  Now word comes that the two large governmentally sponsored mortgage entities Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae may be teetering on the bring of collapse.  If that happens, we will enjoy a five trillion dollar loss.

The energy crisis continues to be with us.  The total lack of leadership by every president, from Jimmy Carter up to the present chief executive, in developing an implementing a meaningful energy policy is about to affect our lives in unbelievable ways.  In short order, $4.00 per gallon gasoline is going to be remembered as the “good old days”!

One consequence of the increase in energy costs is the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) climb in prices of almost everything else, but especially food.  The average grocery bill for a typical American family has escalated 8% over the past year.

Meanwhile, we are spending over $340 million per day on the occupation of Iraq and about $120 million per day on the war in Afghanistan.  Looming just over the horizon is a probable military action against Iran.  How much is that going to cost?!?

Our “lame duck” president, in his typically inept way, has done very little to address this mess.  The “rump” Congress, dominated by the Democrats, has been about as helpful as the proverbial “mammary glands on a boar hog”.

As we look to the near future we have John McCain, who freely admits that he knows little about economic issues, and Barack Obama, who is championing the “tax and spend”, “neo-socialist” theories of the past.

I am not impressed by either.

With the current state of the Congress, unless there is a great movement to "vote the bast**ds out!" come November, I see little hope there.

Let's suppose that we or the Israelis attack Iran's nuclear facilities (which should have been done years ago).  Likely, the Arab world would cut-off most of the oil to the West.  That would be just enough push this weak Bush economy over the edge.  Within weeks supplies of gasoline would be non-existent, foodstuffs would be diminished, and real shortages of electricity and other utilities might become a reality.

During the Great Depression, the majority of Americans lived in rural areas.  Agriculture was widely practiced and people, at the very least, could raise something to eat.  How many Americans today could plant and properly maintain a life-sustaining vegetable garden?