America needs economic stimulus; the question is, what can be done?
Do you invest time, resources and wealth reorganizing health care just to end up with something that does not effectively resolve the problems that led to reform in the first place?
Do you offer stark opposition to fracking, which employs millions in a profitable industry that can become a major source of export and economic self-sufficiency until a more thoroughly-developed, alternative-fuel solution can ween us from oil dependence?
And do you threaten to disrupt the hunting and weapons-hobbyist industries by taking certain guns off the shelves, shutting down another source of American manufacturing power?
Do you naturalize up to 800,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico who are now either dependent on taxpayer-funded welfare and service programs, or competing for basic service jobs in a dead economy?
Obama seems to think so.
When I do an inventory check, my concerns grow even larger. Who is making innovative products for America to export and drive the economy? Apple is doing little more than rebranding South Korean designs at this point, which means the company is riding on its reputation rather than continuing to be an innovative market leader. Worse, Google admits its primary revenue is now drawn from companies using its resources for advertising. So where is the innovation that will continue to drive the economy? Mining user data and selling it to advertisers? Telling companies where to advertise to reach their target audience and investing in an algorithm? Is this going to lead us forward into a new era of economic power and competitive market success tracing back to America? Meanwhile, we cannot really count on either of these companies to lead us in this respect because, like so many other American companies, they are moving critical aspects of research, development, human resources, communications and production abroad, in search of low-tax havens. The government has done next to nothing to put the initiatives into place to stop this. In fact, it has done the opposite by taxing domestic businesses at an uncompetitive rate.
Perhaps the U.S. economy would be doing better if intelligent people were working, and using their brains in their prime; instead, college grads can't find work. But millions of boomers are sitting at top-level jobs and won't take generous pensions incentives to retire. The levels of selfishness are unreal. Again, here is something that Obama has the power to influence - at the very least, through an "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country and community" type of address on retirement.
Meanwhile, America continues to waste tax money funding DEA initiatives to stop marijuana sales and incarcerate smokers; legalizing marijuana and taxing it could generate taxable income and even start to claw away at America's debt - which, incidentally, is getting refinanced by China, which means our biggest global competitor is getting the keys to our estate. Where is all the "change", instead of the forward-march of our country's complete betrayal? Or is the acceleration of that betrayal the sort of "change" Obama had in mind?
Do you invest time, resources and wealth reorganizing health care just to end up with something that does not effectively resolve the problems that led to reform in the first place?
Do you offer stark opposition to fracking, which employs millions in a profitable industry that can become a major source of export and economic self-sufficiency until a more thoroughly-developed, alternative-fuel solution can ween us from oil dependence?
And do you threaten to disrupt the hunting and weapons-hobbyist industries by taking certain guns off the shelves, shutting down another source of American manufacturing power?
Do you naturalize up to 800,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico who are now either dependent on taxpayer-funded welfare and service programs, or competing for basic service jobs in a dead economy?
Obama seems to think so.
When I do an inventory check, my concerns grow even larger. Who is making innovative products for America to export and drive the economy? Apple is doing little more than rebranding South Korean designs at this point, which means the company is riding on its reputation rather than continuing to be an innovative market leader. Worse, Google admits its primary revenue is now drawn from companies using its resources for advertising. So where is the innovation that will continue to drive the economy? Mining user data and selling it to advertisers? Telling companies where to advertise to reach their target audience and investing in an algorithm? Is this going to lead us forward into a new era of economic power and competitive market success tracing back to America? Meanwhile, we cannot really count on either of these companies to lead us in this respect because, like so many other American companies, they are moving critical aspects of research, development, human resources, communications and production abroad, in search of low-tax havens. The government has done next to nothing to put the initiatives into place to stop this. In fact, it has done the opposite by taxing domestic businesses at an uncompetitive rate.
Perhaps the U.S. economy would be doing better if intelligent people were working, and using their brains in their prime; instead, college grads can't find work. But millions of boomers are sitting at top-level jobs and won't take generous pensions incentives to retire. The levels of selfishness are unreal. Again, here is something that Obama has the power to influence - at the very least, through an "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country and community" type of address on retirement.
Meanwhile, America continues to waste tax money funding DEA initiatives to stop marijuana sales and incarcerate smokers; legalizing marijuana and taxing it could generate taxable income and even start to claw away at America's debt - which, incidentally, is getting refinanced by China, which means our biggest global competitor is getting the keys to our estate. Where is all the "change", instead of the forward-march of our country's complete betrayal? Or is the acceleration of that betrayal the sort of "change" Obama had in mind?
