In this debate about job creation and economic stability versus war, what about the other developed nations of the world, where do they stand on this issue? What is China doing, is it involved in building a military empire with Chinese troops being deployed throughout the world? No, China which has a formidable military, is not pursuing war but, rather, is using the majority of its wealth in vastly improving its infrastructure and growing its economy.
Well, then what about the nations of Europe, South Korea, Japan and countless other developed nations around the world? Except for the nations that are members of NATO and are making the huge mistake of contributing even a token amount of troops in Afghanistan, and air power in bombing Libya, these nations have no imperialistic intentions. They are not investing in debilitating wars, they are investing in their own nations and their economy. They have made the right choice; they have chosen economic stability over war. America has not.
They need not invest heavily in their militaries to protect their citizens. America and its taxpayers are already doing it for them by stationing thousands of our troops in their countries. They have no worry about some military power attacking them; they can concentrate on their economies knowing full well that America is providing for their safety.
What is Russia, our former cold war adversary, up to these days? Well, it doesn't have a strong economy but it is rich in petroleum reserves and is using that precious resource to maintain its economy. But it always has its eyes on U.S. and NATO military expansion and encroachment. Russia sometimes pretends to be America's friend but under the surface it is anything but.
Many Americans are unaware that Russia has actually been aiding America and NATO by allowing them to fly through its airspace and cross over its territory to transport materials and supplies into Afghanistan. You might ask, "Why in the world would the Russians be doing that when they are anything but allies of America? It's simply for this reason: they want to see America repeat the mistakes that they made in the ten years between 1979 and 1989 fighting an unwinnable war in Afghanistan that devastated their economy. Russia wants America to expend hundreds of billions of dollars on that war and see America cripple itself financially.
Here's the crux of our problem: with an "effective" unemployment rate of about 18%, not the understated 9.2% we hear reported, those dollars that used to flow into this consumer-driven economy from millions of workers' spending have been drastically reduced and our economy is ready to fall into another even worse recession. Meanwhile mega billions of dollars flow in a steady, ever growing stream into the military budget. Is there anyone who doesn't understand that these war-directed funds, largely borrowed from China, are the major cause of our current deficit crisis?
Consumer spending is said to be between 60-70% of the American economy. Wouldn't you think that the number #1 priority of this president and this Congress would be job creation? Well, it's not; these backward leaders are determined to reduce the national deficit by dismantling entitlements and other social programs. They can't seem to get it through their heads that if we can get these nearly 20 million unemployed or underemployed Americans back to productive work, their spending will stop the bleeding of the economy and wipe out a great share of this deficit.
Never in my lifetime have I seen a president and a Congress with such little vision and so few ideas about how to create jobs and how to develop government/business programs to accomplish it. Mr. Obama should be talking about job creation and specific job initiatives each and every day, pressing his administration and Congress to make this America's #1 objective. It is mind boggling to try to understand why he has done virtually nothing to try to solve America's most critical problem.
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