Commentary: U.S. National Government

Saying that the U.S. National Government is under performing would be a huge understatement. In fact, you could make a reasonable argument that the government is working in the best interest of someone other than its citizens. Particularly over the past 16 plus years, much to the bewilderment of the American people, our government has been moving in a direction contrary to where the country should be heading. In the last two or three federal administrations, particularly the past two, there has been a complete revolution with regards to everything from international relations with both friendly and hostile countries and a diminishing of American independence, and in domestic policies with the blatant unwillingness to stop the mass exodus of production and manufacturing jobs and infrastructure. And also, the Federal Reserve, implementing policy that allowed unqualified individuals to obtain loans that they could not afford to pay, and reducing home lending rates to a level that encouraged millions of fiscally illiterate Americans to divest themselves of their homes, the one thing that made them wealthy. Those and other factors have lead us into the worst housing crisis in our nations history.

The USA Today reports that a total of nearly 1.3 million U.S. housing properties were subject to foreclosure activity(up 79% from 2006). And 3.2 million, one in six factory jobs, have disappeared since the start of 2000 alone. Yet, the president and Congress continue to engage in disadvantageous foreign relations that export jobs, technology and business, at the same time encouraging low wage foreigners into the workforce. There is also the issue of the un-Constitutional occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan that alone drains billions of dollars per day form the treasury and costs American lives. Hopefully, no matter which party wins this upcoming election, these issues are resolved, and America bounces back from the sunken state that it is in now, both with regard to international affairs and domestic and financial policy making.

Bailout Fallout

This is a critique of a recent commentary pertaining to the Republican Party’s management of the current financial crisis. More specifically, John McCain’s response to the situation. (http://tinyurl.com/3hw6gf)

This commentary is directed at anyone who is either interested in current events, politics, or finance. The author claims that the Republican presidential nominee and his staff have mismanaged the situation, and cites recent polls and news articles to back up his argument.

He claims that the majority of the public seems to not only blame the Republicans for the crisis, but also believe them to be responsible for the defeat of the first proposition. This, he says, will not only make it difficult for the republicans to win the presidential race, but also win races for the house and senate; stating that the party’s chances hinge on the success or failure of the bill.

I agree with the authors commentary that the majority of the country is less than impressed with the Republican Party response to the financial crisis, whether warranted or not. The bill is going to need to prove some real visible results in a short amount of time to increase the Party’s chances of retaining the presidency.