It is time to SPEND!!

What is America in for? What kind of economic stress is around the corner? What are our chances for a good retirement? How long will it be before this recession ends? What does America's future hold? Well, there are probably hundreds, perhaps thousands of other questions we could ask as well, and the answers do not seem to be anywhere in sight. One thing I know for sure, President Obama promised us change, and that is a promise he will deliver on. In fact, that change has already started in a big way, with over 3 Trillion Dollars added to our national deficit in his first, short six months in office.

Everyone seems to be blaming everyone else for this horrible situation we face. It is Bush's fault! No, it is the Republican's fault! No, it is Clinton's fault! No, Obama's! No it is the Democrat's fault! Don't watch Fox news- they are lying, scheming scoundrels! No, CNN is to blame with all their biased coverage!

One thing is for sure- everyone is angry and blaming everyone and everything else. But the real issue is not being addressed, HOW DO WE GET OUT OF THIS MESS? As bad as things seem to be, there are some other problems, some underlying problems, and we have all heard the smallest hint of them in the past 6 months: is America turning socialist? We have all heard talks on conservative shows, and blasting of these talks by liberal shows, about whether or not we are headed for a socialist state. Some have even concluded we are already a socialist state, but still have most of our freedoms in tact, at least to one degree or another.

But I do have a couple of questions about this issue- the first question is, what do we know so far? The next is, why would someone say we are headed for socialism?

What do we know so far? I'll give you some commonly known facts. We are in debt for OVER 11 Trillion dollars. The Real Estate industry is actually recovering, but has just went through one of the worst drops in it's history. The Stock Market is not doing well, and has been problematic for at least a couple of years now, especially this past year. The automotive industry is bankrupt. Health Care is headed for imminent disaster. The national unemployment rate is worse than it has been in at least 20 years. Gasoline prices are at least ok, right? Here, they are around $2.44/gallon, that is good right? But it was around .99 cents a gallon for DECADES before this mess happened so NO that is not good! And gas is still ready to go back up AGAIN! Barak Obama signed into effect a bill called "The Stimulus Bill", (perhaps it had a different official title) that cost $900 Billion dollars, and the money used to supply this bill was just "printed into existence." What affect will those Hundreds of Billions have on our dollar's value in the future? How long in the future will those effects take place? What if something before then also affects our dollar, then what effect will the Stimulus money have? If our system of capitalism is OVERLOADED with dollars that have no value, compared to their value today, what will be the impact on society? President Obama ALSO signed over around $400 Billion dollars to the banks and car industry in the forms of bailouts, and all this is not even including what Bush did as President, he implemented a bill as well, also $900 Billion dollars, that bill was for bailouts.

Will spending Trillions of dollars help, or hurt, our over burdened economy??? Well, I know one thing. When I want to buy something, I have to have a budget. I need to account for things that are ABSOLUTE priorities, rent, medication, and bills. If I have money left over, then I can decide what to spend on food, clothes, utilities, and school if I am a student. Those last things, I call SECONDARY priorities, because they are things I do not need to spend on, to survive. I do need a roof over my head, I do need my medication, but as CONVENIENT as electricity is, it is a secondary priority. Cable? Secondary. Heating and cooling? Unless you live in Alaska or Canada, SECONDARY. Food is not secondary, and water is not secondary, but I put those on my secondary list and after the absolute priorities, those are the first secondaries I take care of. Cable and phone can be very important, especially depending on your job. However if you have a job that demands cable and phone service, you are probably making a nice income anyways. The point to all this, is that IF I have money left over AFTER paying my actual needs, then I use part of what is left for monthly payments on BILLS. If there is any left over after that, I can use it for fun. Entertainment. Or save for something I want to get that costs a few bucks.

But the real problem is, that after priorities, our government has tens of thousands of "Bills" to make monthly payments to, not to mention the tremendous cost of every government program that is out there. There are probably hundreds of government agencies, and government sponsored programs that suck up our taxes at astonishing rates. The sad thing is the ridiculous SALARIES of people who work for these programs. America is based on a Capitol system, I get that. But tell me, does ANYONE, and I mean ANYONE, need more than $20,000 of income each month?? Because if there were some reasonable limits put on government and federal salaries, AND limits put on management positions in the commercial industry, what would that do? Well, considering that the average company generates millions of dollars a year, and many companies generate BILLIONS each year, if CEO's and managers and boards of directors and so on, had a LIMIT put on them by FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, then aside from actual operational costs, the people who REALLY produce profit for corporations, the LITTLE people, the base workers, the laborers, would then be able to earn a much higher income. Instead of a measly $11.00/hr, I could be looking at $35/hr or MORE. Along with every other little man and woman out there just scraping by. Business men and women with a degree could make even more. CEO's will still be FAR richer than me, making that ceiling, at about $20,000 a month. What would that do for our economy? If all of us were reaping the benefits, and the "loopholes" were eliminated out of the tax system, and if we were all making so much that taxes (as they are so far) didn't hurt our pocketbook every year, what would that do for our economy? But, Greed and Corruption continue to prevail.

A few finishing thoughts. Is President Obama going to read the Health Care Bill before passing it? IF he does, will he be capable of understanding the underlying terms? And, do YOU WANT HIM to read AND understand a Bill that will directly impact every American's life, probably for the worst? Do you know WHO wrote the Health Care Bill? (The name, is The Apollo Alliance.) And just who the heck are they? What have they done in the past? What is the history of it's members? Are they good guys or bad guys?

This is still a free country, and we have a right to protect our freedoms, but have we done too little for too long? Is it too late to save ourselves from the coming storm? With groups popping up all over the place that scream "socialism", like the Black Panthers, Acorn, The Apollo Alliance, numerous groups tied directly to communism and other groups with twisted political agendas, it just might be too late to avoid the potential storm on the horizon. It may just be a matter of time before America will be the past. We may still have a chance, but we all need to do SOMETHING, and we need to do it NOW. The question we need to ask ourselves is, what can we do? How can we convince our leaders to do what is right? Is there a way to convince them, to stop looking to their own over-loaded pockets, and cure them of the greed and corruption they are all a part of? What can we do about America's crisis?

Written by:  Derrik Scott MacNair