After
nearly two years we
have selected the
leader of our
country for at least
another four years.
At the time I’m
writing this column,
I am sitting in a
hotel in Berlin. I
woke at five this
morning to see what
CNN had to say about
yesterdays election.
By the time I got
the television on…
it was all over but
the shouting.
At breakfast this
morning, the English
papers were
reporting the event.
Now the long knives
start to come out.
Not much of a
honeymoon if you ask
me. No, the papers
in this part of the
world, who had
previously been so
pro-Obama now are
starting to question
what effect his
election will have
upon the European
community. Will his
election and his
lack of experience
work for or against
the other nations in
the world? Questions
were raised
concerning the
amount of money
Senator Obama had
raised for his
campaign. How could
a junior first term
senator raise over
600 million dollars
in such a short
time? An
unprecedented
amount. Where did
this money come from
and who will Senator
Obama be beholden to
as a result? Where
do any of these
candidates of any
election come up
with the huge sums
they need to get
into office? You and
I both know the
answer to that
question.
The Americans at
this conference were
being asked many
questions. The
European’s
attraction to Obama
had quickly
translated into a
growing fear that
his promises cannot
or might not be
fulfilled without
major changes to the
United States
economy. There can
no argument that our
economy has a direct
effect on the world.
It’s fairly easy to
identify those of us
from the States, and
at least ten
Europeans have
advised me that they
are certainly glad
that the race is
finally over. They
seem to be as tired
of it as most of
are.
The issue at it now
stands is whether or
not the new
administration will
actually get
anything done. One
of the more watched
you-tube videos this
past month was of an
Obama supporter
claiming that she
hoped he was elected
as she believed if
this happened she
would not have to
pay her mortgage or
ever buy any gas for
her car.
Bunkie, this isn’t
going to happen. I
hate to disappoint
her, but she
shouldn’t be looking
for this kind of new
deal anytime soon.
If it does happen,
we’re all in bigger
trouble than I
thought. I hate to
burst this woman’s
balloon but in case
she didn’t know it,
the government is
not a for-profit
entity. In spite of
what we see on
television, they do
not ‘make’ or
‘create’ any money.
Oh sure, they
‘print’ money, but
they don’t actually
earn any money. We,
the taxpayers and
business owners are
the ones who
actually create the
wealth in this
country which is
then passed along to
the government as
required. Contrary
to what a lot of
people believe the
word ‘profit’ is not
a four letter word.
If there was no
profit in being in
business, very few
of us would do so
for any length of
time and more of us
would go to work for
the government in
some form or
fashion. The basic
laws of economics
suggest that unless
you have more
revenue coming in
than you have
payments going out,
you will go broke.
We’ve all been in
the situation at the
grocery store where
we had to take
something back as we
didn’t have enough
cash or credit to
pay for everything
we had in our
baskets. Now,
multiply that
concept millions of
times over and see
if we give our more
than we bring in,
the shortfall has to
come from somewhere.
This somewhere is
either through
inflation (printing
more money) or
increased taxation.
In business we would
either increase the
revenue by
attracting more
customers or reduce
our cost by becoming
more efficient. When
was the last time
you heard of any
governmental program
becoming efficient?
We should admit that
the election does
show that the United
States has made a
great deal of
progress along
racial lines. I have
always contended
that racial issues
in our country were
blown out of
proportion by those
who could benefit
from continual
conflict. Be that as
it may, the
Europeans took the
position that a
change from the
previous 43
presidents would
indeed be a good
thing. We will all
have to wait and see
if looks and
charisma can achieve
anything of major
significance.
For our sake as well
as the rest of the
world, I certainly
hope that it does.
