Unemployment and Debt

Well, despite all the media hype about how President Obama was going to pull us out of the recession, more people are still losing their jobs. The unemployment rate climbed to 9.5 this past month, and where oh where has all the money gone?!

Well, let's see...billions to foreign aid. Billions to welfare. Trillions to our crummy public education system. And the Fed continues to print more Monopoly money, so be assured that the weekly 'Free Parking' truck will be around quite soon!

Now, perhaps I'm being unfair. But I don't think so. The government seems to think that the only way to achieve prosperity (a rather shallow goal, at the best of times), is to get in debt. We have a President who apparently worships debt, hailing it as the end-all to economic success.

Somebody needs to hit them all upside the head with a great big dose of reality.

Debt doesn't bring prosperity. The only thing it brings is 'Stupid tax' as Dave Ramsey phrases it. America is paying a lot of stupid tax. Or, they would be, if the government was actually trying to pay off their debt instead of let it fester and accrue interest...and be there so China can own us in a few years.

Debt does not equal economic success. Like I said, it only brings with it more spending. If my family had not bought a house that was too expensive, and hadn't bought so much stuff on credit, we would be comparatively well off right now. Yeah, we might not be living in the best neighborhood, but we wouldn't have to worry about where food was coming from next week.

A lot of families are in that fix. Why? Because they've gotten themselves into debt.

Now, back to our original topic.

Why is 'creating jobs' the end-all? It isn't the government's job to create jobs. It never has been, and it won't be. Ever. But, somebody needs to tell that to our Smart and Smarter legislators in Washington. Oh, and to our President. (Somebody also needs to tell him lots of other things, but that's another post.)

I truly think that if the government would back off and let the economy run it's course, we'd see an improvement. The people who run these businesses know what they're doing. They're trying to make money. Having to kow-tow to the government doesn't make them money. Firing or laying off people doesn't make them money.

Neither do unemployment taxes, or social security taxes, or any of the other dumb taxes they have to pay to the government. It isn't profitable to run their businesses. So, they'd be pretty silly if they stayed in a business that wasn't making them money.

The government needs to back off already. Seriously.

Parties and Partisanship

Seriously. I am sick of the party thing. It's so incredibly stupid.

Yes, I know, I'm launching right into my rant. This is bound to be a rant, so bear with me.

There are two major parties in the United States of America- the Democrats, and the Republicans. Or, as I prefer to label them as, the Demoblicans and the Republicrats. I'm going to explain why I call them that, and why I think they deserve it.

For starters, let me make a comparison between our current culture of "he started it, she started it."

Think back to a playground. We have two little three-year olds. One three year old throws dirt in the other's face. Well, one bad turn deserves another, so the one who had dirt thrown in his face responds accordingly- by throwing dirt in the face of the kid who did it originally. They then delve into a round of "He started it, no he did, no HE did..." and the process continues until finally, both of them are taken away by their respective mothers.

What, might you ask, does this have to do with our partisan politics? Quite a lot, actually.

I have no idea who originally began the cycle, but I know that now, we can't get out of it. Or, at least, we've fooled ourselves into thinking we can't.

For one thing, each party blames the other for...well, everything since the Fall of Man. If something goes wrong in the economy, according to the Democrats, it's the Republican's fault, and according to the Republicans, it's the Democrat's fault.

Both say the other is messing the country over, and we are all going to explode/the jihadists will take over/Israel will kill us/Ann Coulter will go waaay over the top (again) if the other party gets in.

Is anyone besides me seeing that this is kind of...pointless? And stupid?

With Democrats, everything is President Bush's fault. In fact, I think some of them could actually, in all honesty, attempt to pin the Peloponnesian War on him. With Republicans, everything is President Obama's fault, or Frank's fault, or it's the fault of the first Democrat they see. Some of them try to pin every conceivable conflict/plague/depression/famine since the beginning of time on him.

So...what are we doing again?

Both parties say the other party is control of the media, brainwashing our children and corrupting them into either pro-homosexuality or pro-Creationism, depending on which side you're on.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Both sides try to make the other out to be some sort of monster. If they're Democrats, they're gay-loving, baby-killing, Israel-hating crazies. If they're Republicans, they're gay-bashing, black-hating, anti-woman, anti-rights crazies.

So, I think it's safe to say that both side has plenty of crazies!

Yet, if you really get down to it, the parties are really not that different. I mean, we have...the Democrats who love big business, stimulus, and money, all the while professing to be for the blue-collar worker, and claiming the other side has all the elites and money.

On the other side, we have the Republicans who love big business, stimulus, and money, all the while professing to be for the blue-collar worker, and claiming the other side has all the elites and money.

Yeah, not much difference that I can see.

So, now you know why I call them Demoblicans and Republicrats. Enjoy. ;)