In the past, other countries around the world have issued huge sums of debt or merely printed money to finance government spending deficits just as we are doing now. This often leads to inflation, which ultimately erodes the value of the currency. Are you old enough to remember the double digit inflation the U.S. experienced in the late 1970s and early 1980s? Inflation hurts everyone, no matter what their income level is. Is it really wise to run deficits that average nearly a TRILLION dollars a year as the current administration proposes? Should our Nation shoulder this monumental burden (bailouts and feckless stimulus plans) approved with as little as a few hours of forethought by Congress and the President?
Just because someone uses a word to describe something, that doesn’t make it so. The words “investment” and “stimulus” are perfect examples. Remember the $600 and $1200 “stimulus” checks we received last year? Those checks didn’t stimulate anything. What about the “investments” the federal government is funding by issuing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of government bonds right now? Most honest people call that pork barrel or pet project spending. Let’s not forget; Bernie Madoff made “investments” too.
When Iran or North Korea develop functional nuclear weapons and have the misguided will to use them (or worse, sell them to terrorist organizations), the current administration’s desire to talk and talk won’t save us or any other target of these weapons. Russia, China and the United Nations won’t help us either.
I was watching the news on KHNL 8, the Honolulu NBC affiliate, last week. The news anchor reported that Hawaii foreclosures rose 503% in March. I wondered why they didn’t report the actual number of foreclosures. Then I realized 503% is a sensational headline. Bad news sells and hyped bad news sells even more. The actual numbers NBC failed to provide are these: there were 120 foreclosures in March 2008 vs. 724 foreclosures in March 2009. A 503% increase sounds much worse than merely saying the number of foreclosures rose from 120 to 724.
