Stimulate This!!!

Sorry its been so long since my last post. Lots has been happening, both in my life and with the country. A new president has been elected and is solidifying his cabinet and power base. We've dived into a full blown recession, and some say we are heading for a depression. Whew! And its only February!

I watched the president's press conference/stump speech the other evening and came away with a clearer understanding of the issues and what they mean to me as an American citizen. First let me say that I did not vote for the president. The color of his skin didn't, and doesn't, matter to me but the color and content of his ideas does. Our president's philosphy and politcal track is RED; as in communist/socialist. It was clear from his opening remarks, and the answers to the questions that the reporters threw at him that the leader of our country is firmly in the camp of the neo-socialist/communist ideologues.

Not to get off on a tangent here, but I was wholly unimpressed with the president's manner and style of speech. He was hesitant, fumbled for words and appeared unsure of himself. My take is that when he has a prepared script, he kills, but extemporaneous speaking reveals his true ignorance of not only the issues but of the English language as well. He danced around the questions and rarely gave a straight answer. Is this the transparency and change we've been promised? I don't think so. Much of the criticism that got through the stone wall which the media threw up around him during the campain was that he was an empty suit. It is becoming quite clear that this is the case.

Back on point. From the speech the president gave, as well as the answers he gave to the reporters, it is obvious that he feels the pain of his constituents; the unemployed, unemeployable, the disadvantaged and disenfranchised. You know, the ones who got him elected, say HALLELUJAH! Can I get an AMEN? It is equally obvious how he plans to solve their problems; Big Daddy GOVERNMENT is going to to provide the Balm of Gilead to their poor, unwashed brows.

The president decried the lack of spending, the lack of credit availability and the generally poor performance of the those who still had jobs. You see, if those of us who still have a buck or two would only spend it, he could give that to those who don't, or won't, do for themselves. It's simple, really. Businesses need to give more. The people who still have jobs need to give more so that the 'rest' of the country can be saved (another hallelujah if you please).

The problem with his thinking is this; He is losing America. That's right, campers, the president cannot see the forest for the trees. He has shit on, marginalized, demonized and generally denigrated the very constituency that he needs to make his plan work. Without Joe Average Working American; the guy who takes care of his family, pays his bills, volunteers at the fire house, maybe goes to church once a week and maybe to the sports bar too, the president has no one that can actually help him help the 'rest' of the country.

The sad thing is that, as a member of the middle class who still has a few assets (which, by the way, I have worked my whole life to acquire), he's lost me. I'm hunkering down. I'm hanging on to what little I have left. I don't NEED to buy a new car; the one I own works just fine, and if it doesn't, I'll fix it or find a friend who can, for cash (no taxes, you know). I don't NEED a new TV, DVD player WII or any of the other 'extras' that I might have bought a year or two ago. I have enough to feed my family, keep a roof over their heads and pay for the necessities of life, and I don't NEED the GOVERNMENT to do ANY of that, thank you very much. Medical insurance is expensive, but if I shop around, I can find a plan that works for me, and I actually can get in to see a doctor when I need to! What a concept!

You see, the president is so wrapped up in providing for people who won't provide for themselves, and who have spent most of their lives on the 'dole' that their entire mindset prevents them from doing anything but staring blankly into space while the GOVERNMENT takes care of them, that he can't see or even fathom that those people are not who America is. We are! He and his advisors are about to find out that the real America isn't going to come riding to his rescue. Wall Street, Banks, Big Business, Corporate America; they are all going to find out that America can and will take care of itself. The landscape is going to change drastically in the next five years and what emerges will, hopefully, be a stronger, smarter, less dependent on big government America. An America where hard work is rewarded with security, where you pay your own way. If you want or need something, you work for it. If your neighbor is in need, you and the rest of the neighbors pitch in and help them, and where community revolves around people not the local welfare office.