In just a few short hours we will swear in a new president. To many, he represents hope and change – or perhaps it is just the hope of change. But I wonder, will any change do?
I know that too, there are many out there who will heave a collective sigh of relief when our current president returns to private life after passing the torch to his successor. And with him (some believe) a whole litany of problems, mistakes, missteps, bad moves, poor decisions and (at best) misguided strategies, with him back to the ranch. As well as runaway spending, insurmountable national debt that our children and grandchildren will inherit, bail outs and I suppose pretty much everything that is wrong with this country.
We are making history here – the first black president (well, half-black and wasn’t Bill Clinton the first one?) and apparently by virtue of that fact alone, our country and the world opinion of same will miraculously reverse and once again, the streets of America will be paved with gold.
Well…actually…not so fast, bub. According to the new administration’s plan, we will in fact, be giving more bail outs to other victims because conventional wisdom dictates that you can’t bail out one without bailing out the rest. 600,000 new jobs sounds impressive until you realize that that translates into 600,000 more government employees to interfer in your life and with your personal liberties while you kindly pay their mortgages and automatic pay raises with your tax dollars. Then too, while GW Bush will get no praise or pass from me for the deficits run up during his two terms, at least he never exceded 4% of the GNP (Gross National Product) whereas the new President Obama’s plan is estimated to be more like 15% of the GNP. The deficit will just continue to rack up into the trillions of dollars, folks. Perhaps the hope part of this scenario is more about the hope that we the taxpayers will be able to keep at least some of our paychecks?
Hillary Clinton is going to rehabilitate our tarnished reputation abroad with her mad diplomatic skilz and the new Treasury Secretary only owes a mere $40,000 in back taxes – although since he’ll be the one overseeing the IRS, I’m sure he’ll be able to work out a good payment plan for himself.
I could go on but I’m sure you get the picture. Though what you may not realize is that this post is not really about Bush or Obama, or liberal or conservative – it’s really about the status quo. What I’m trying to point out is that despite all the campaining and debating and electing and so forth that by and large there just really isn’t that much difference between politicians and parties. That no matter what they tell you or promise you they are going to continue doing what politicians do: harness more and more money and power. Largely gaining that power with your money (not theirs) while you happily surrender it and your personal freedoms because of a promise they will never keep.
So my friends, before we get all excited about the new face and the new look in the White House let’s face the fact that aside from appearances nothing is really going to change.
Anita Rodgers Mystery Writer 